Just Another Day at the Office
by lumisakom
Summary: A prompt challenge from my dear friend Pru-chan. Seriously, who gives someone nearly two hundred prompts to write? -I WILL KILL YOU, PRUEY, WHEN I'VE FINISHED THIS, BY THE WAY.- Individual genres/ratings/pairings/warnings included in each chapter, blah blah blah...
1. Basement

**Since I have over a hundred prompts to write (THANK YOU SO EFFING MUCH PRU *pulls out gun*), I decided it would probably be sensible to organise them all into one story. The one-shots I've already posted will be added to this series and then deleted as stand-alones.**

**None of these drabbles relate to each other, by the way.**

**Individual ratings and genres will be posted at the beginning of every chapter.**

**Prompt: Basement  
Genre: Humour  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Language**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**Basement**

There was a disgruntled sigh. "For god's sake, Havoc. Look what you've done."

"Sorry, sir, but I can't look 'cause I can't see anything, sir."

A deep growl emanated from somewhere in the room. "Don't be a smart-arse, Havoc."

"Sorry sir."

_Crash_.

"Ack!" A high-pitched yelp sounded from a far corner of the room.

"Al?" a familiar alto called from somewhere in the pitch blackness. "Are you okay?"

There was a slight hiss of pain. "Yeah, I'm fine, nii-san. I just tripped over something."

There was an exasperated sigh, before a harsh feminine voice said, uncharacteristically irritated, "This is ridiculous. Where is the door?"

There was a moment of muffled fumbling, before Breda called, "Over here." A loud rattling noise permeated the darkness, then an irritable _thump_. There was a noticeable lack of a familiar creak of an opening door. "I can't open it sir," Breda said gruffly. "I think it's locked, or maybe jammed."

"Well then I'll fucking kick it down-"

"Fullmetal," Roy interrupted harshly. "Don't be so violent."

"But how else are we-"

"Be _patient_."

"I don't think it's possible for the Boss to be patient, sir."

"I don't _need_ to be pa-"

"I think you're right, Havoc."

"If I just kick the door down, then-"

"Then you'll have to pay for the damage, Fullmetal."

"_You're _my superior officer, Colonel Bastard;_ you_ pay for-"

"My name is _Roy Mustang_."

"I don't ca-"

"Ain't that the truth."

"Stop cutting me off!"

"Everyone just _be quiet_!"

The silence might've been visible if any of the occupants of the pitch-black room could actually see.

"Thank you," Hawkeye finished far more calmly. "We're never going to get out of here if we simply shout and quarrel between ourselves."

There was a childishly reluctant grunt of agreement throughout the room.

"... What do you suggest we do, Lieutenant?" Roy asked wearily through an irritable sigh as he flopped onto the floor.

"I suggest we do the most sensible thing we can, Colonel. We're still in Headquarters, so someone if bound to either come looking for us, or come looking for something in the basement. Either way, we're guaranteed someone will come."

"So...?"

"So," Hawkeye said firmly. "We _wait._"

Hawkeye was sure, if she could see in the pitch blackness, the look of identical horror on everyone's faces would've been priceless.


	2. Fudge

**Arigatou to Momo this time for the prompt :3**

**Prompt: Fudge  
Genre: Romance  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Elricest, loud and clear and in-your-face.**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**Fudge**

Al paused on the grey cobbled pavement, his brow furrowing in slight confusion as he glanced down at the unusually empty spot beside him. He blinked, shifting the brown paper bag of groceries in his arms as he turned around. "Nii-san?" He tilted his head to the side as the beginnings of worry twanged in his stomach when no sign of Ed showed itself on the busy Central streets. "Nii-san?" He called again, this time more loudly and firmly, attracting a couple of curious glances from stray women and men wandering the streets.

Mild panic was beginning to set in and he was just about to call for his brother a third time when a familiar shoulder-height swish of molten gold caught his eye in the bustling crowd. Al sighed in relief. "Nii-san!"

Ed started at Al's scolding tone, turning and gazing at Al as if he was genuinely surprised Al was there, even though they'd gone out together in the first place. "Al?"  
Al fixed Ed with a stern gaze of disapproval as he jogged over. "Nii-san! You shouldn't run of without me! What if we got separated? We both know you have no sense of direction! You could've gotten lost!"

Ed rolled his eyes as he absent-mindedly handed over the shining change to the owner of the street stall. "What are you, my mother? _I'm_ supposed to be the older brother here, Al! Don't tell me what to do." After a moment's pause, he added grumpily, "And I _do_ have a sense of direction."

A sceptical eyebrow raised amid the exasperated expression on Al's face.

Ed merely stuck his tongue out childishly, collecting his purchase from the kind-looking middle-aged woman wearing a 'kiss the cook' apron. He tossed a nonchalant 'thanks' over his shoulder almost as an afterthought as he and Al strode away.

"You're only allowed to say that when you actually _act_ like the older one, nii-san."

"Shut up."

Al smiled fondly down - yes, _down_ - at his brother and his oddly endearing antics. "So, what was it that was so important you would be willing to make me worried to buy it?"

Ed shifted in his shocking red coat (that he was quickly outgrowing, much to his delight) as he strolled beside Al, and a small smear of rose-pink graced his cheeks, though Al couldn't tell whether it was because of worrying Al or what he'd bought.

Al cocked his head to the side, a curious smile on his face. "Well?" He giggled. "Surely it can't be _that_ bad."

Ed flushed a slightly deeper shade. "Fudge," he murmured.

Al raised a surprised eyebrow. "Fudge?" he echoed. "Why? You always seemed to prefer spicy things to sweet things..."

Ed shrugged jerkily, before mumbling, "Dunno. I saw it, and I guess I just got one of those urges. Like you said you get sometimes. I just wanted to buy it, for no reason... so I did."

Al couldn't resist the laughter that bubbled out of his throat, earning an indignant huff from Ed.

"W-what?"

Al stifled another giggle as he replied, a wide grin on his face, "You're so strange, nii-san."

Ed swore his face must be blackened and blistered beyond recognition, judging by the amount of heat he could feel burning in his cheeks. "S-shut up, Al."

Al giggled. "Have you tried some yet?"

"The fudge?"

"Mm."

Ed shot Al a deadpan look. "I was buying it as you found me. You haven't seen me eat any, have you? Or was I just oblivious to that?"

Al gave Ed a mock glare that clearly said 'I'd slap you if my hands weren't full right now'. "Are you going to?"

"Dunno." Ed shrugged, smirking at Al's exasperated expression. "What? I said I had an urge to _buy_ it, not an urge to _eat _it."

Al scowled, though it was about as effective on Ed as a newborn puppy growling at a Rottweiler. "That's a waste, nii-san!"

Ed rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine." He tugged the packet out of his pocket, and Al gasped in childlike awe at the wide assortment of different colours and flavours. He pulled a bite-size chunk out at random and popped it in his mouth, gazing at the sky as he chewed.

"Is it nice?" Al asked after Ed had swallowed.

Ed seemed to consider the idea, before a devilish smirk crept onto his face, immediately setting off alarm bells in Al's head. An expression like that could only mean one thing with Ed - _trouble_. To Al's confusion, he paused mid-stride, reached behind his head and tugged out the hair tie holding his messy ponytail in place, shaking his head and letting his hair fall forward until one couldn't see his face unless standing directly in front of him. He then stepped forward, closing the small gap between them, and leant forward on his toes, expertly avoiding the groceries, as he brought his fudge-smeared lips to meet Al's.

Al's eyes widened briefly - _here, in public?_ - before he realised that was the reason Ed had taken his hair tie out(_nii-san always did look like a girl with his hair down_) and he closed his eyes, smiling into the kiss.

He couldn't help but admit that the fudge was very, very nice.

Ed drew back after a prolonged moment, and murmured lowly with half-lidded eyes, "I don't know, Al. You tell me."


	3. Disability

**This is supposed to be in the canon timeline, post-human transmutation and pre-automail. So Ed's eleven, Al's ten. :3**

**Prompt: Disability  
Genre: Angst/Hurt/Comfort  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Angst, slight Elricest**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**Disability**

"Hey, Al," Ed said quietly from the dark kitchen, breaking the hollow, empty silence that nowadays seemed to permanently loom over the Elric household, covering it in a shroud of black mist no one would dare approach.

"Yes, nii-san?" Al called back softly, his voice barely above a whisper, and it was almost lost on his sibling in the near-deafening silence. His armoured head poked around the doorframe into Ed's line of sight, proving his existence as more than just an echo of Ed's memory.

Ed attempted a small smile, though to Al it looked far more like a pained grimace, the black shadows of the windowless room covering his brother's face like a mourning veil.

"Hm?" Al prompted when there was no reply from the crippled boy.

Ed opened his mouth slowly, as if the action required extraordinary amounts of energy, and when he spoke his voice was hardly more than an exhalation of carbon dioxide into the already polluted air. "Let's go somewhere."

The rest of Al's looming armour joined its head in the pasty doorframe. "Go somewhere?" he questioned, his mild shock and growing curiosity at his brother's shift in attitude not failing to seep into his childish voice.

Ed nodded slowly and minutely. "Yeah," he breathed. "This place just..."

Ed didn't have to finish the sentence for Al to get the message.

"Mm." Al nodded agreeably, clunking towards his brother, reigning in a sigh that wanted to be let out at the slump of defeat in Ed's shoulders. "Okay." He reached for the grey handles of the bleak, grey wheelchair and turned it around to face the back door that led out of the grey-tiled kitchen, making sure not to make Ed dizzy with too quick a movement. He slowly pushed Ed into motion.

Ed opened the grey door, wincing at the painfully awkward angle and turn of his wrist - he really should have used his right hand - and muttering sour nothings about being fine when Al questioned him about it.

Al shut the door behind them, relaxing his grip on the handles as the wheelchair gained momentum.

Both brothers made a noise of relief as they made their way out of the shadow of the suffocating, monotonous house.

Al glanced back at it - he wasn't sure whether it was just the odd sight through the armour or whether it was what Ed was seeing too, but it seemed as if suddenly the entire house was grey. Bleak, grey walls housed tattered grey furniture and sad grey cobwebs. Even Ed looked rather monochrome in those grey clothes hanging limply off his skinny frame, seated in that old, grey wheelchair. His skin seemed to have become a pasty shade of greyish-pink, and his hair was dusted with what Al swore were grey hairs. Even his burning, molten gaze had become somewhat... dull.

Not to mention that's Al's new steel form meant he was the very definition of 'grey'.

They were a good hundred metres from the dead house when Ed snapped Al out of his reverie. "Where do you want to go?"

Al shrugged his broad metal shoulders. "I don't mind," he replied gently. "Wherever you want, nii-san."

Ed made a soft, noncommittal grunting noise in the back of his throat. "Someplace with you in it."

If he could, Al would've smiled.

"Maybe..." Ed mused aloud, knowing Al was going to need a more specific answer, "some field somewhere. Where I can lie down. Somewhere away from everyone else."

"You don't want to see anyone?"

Ed shook his head once, before sighing tiredly and tipping his head back to look his younger brother in the face. Or at least, its substitute. The pain - both physical and mental - was making itself known on Ed's face as two large purple bruises under each of his empty eyes, something Ed would never have let anyone see but Al - and what Al would have done to just hug him and make everything go away- "Do I really look like I want to be subjected to pitying glances when they think I'm not looking and faked sympathetic pats on what should be my shoulder, Al?" Ed asked quietly, interrupting Al's flow of miserable thoughts.

Al made a sighing sound that tasted like resignation on the tongue he didn't have. "I know, nii-san. I don't like it either. But you shouldn't-" Al was jerked to a stop as the wheelchair caught on a large pebble. Ed weakly kicked it out of the way with a half-hearted huff of annoyance that Al suspected was only produced for Al's reassurance. Al began to push Ed forward again as he spoke, quieter this time. "You shouldn't take it out on the neighbours, nii-san. Trying to comfort someone is an automatic reaction."

Ed sighed. "I know. That doesn't mean I have to like it," he breathed, as if he just couldn't be bothered to talk anymore.

Al sighed, though more in agreement than frustration. The sad sound ricocheted around inside the empty shell.

There was a moment of comfortable silence between them as they wandered - or in Ed's case, rolled - quietly down the dirt path.

"What about the hill?" Al asked suddenly, a small, fond smile showing in his childlike voice.

"The hill?" Ed echoed in mild confusion.

Al nodded, the oversized armour clunking in protest at the movement. "You know the one, nii-san. The hill we always used to play under when we were... before."

"Oh, yeah," Ed whispered in realisation, deliberately ignoring Al's slip-up. A tiny smile ghosted across his lips as he murmured, "I remember." He glanced up at Al again. "Go there," he said quietly, a drop of anticipation tinting his voice a faint shade of happy.

"Mm, okay."

They continued in companionable silence, rattling and clanging down the deserted dirt path as Al subconsciously sped up. The humongous oak tree was just in view when Ed murmured hesitantly, "Hey, Al."

"Mm?" Al replied just as softly.

Ed exhaled in what was not quite a sigh. "You know I love you, right?"

A small, sweet sound akin to a giggle was heard from the intimidating suit of steel. "Of course I do, nii-san."

Ed nodded slightly, showing a tiny smile. "Good."

Al chuckled quietly. "And I love you too, nii-san."


	4. Chopsticks

**Who said these things had to be long? xD**

**(Forgot to mention: all prompts courtesy of Pru unless stated otherwise. :3)**

**Prompt: Chopsticks  
****Genre: Humour  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Language**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**Chopsticks**

_Smash._

"Fuck this!" Ed yelled, slamming the thin chopsticks onto the dining table with inhuman strength.

"Nii-san, not with your automail!" Al fretted. "You'll break the table!"

"I don't care!" Ed snarled through gritted teeth, glaring icily at what was left of his chopsticks as if they had personally offended him. "Chopsticks are stupid. Who uses them when you can just use a fork, anyway?" he grumbled sourly.

"Nii-san," Al started exasperatedly, "the Colonel invited everyone to a sushi restaurant tomorrow to celebrate you finally being free of the military's leash. You can't go to a sushi restaurant without knowing how to use chopsticks," Al explained for the thousandth time that evening. "Although," he added in an undertone, "I'm not quite sure why being dishonourably discharged is anything to celebrate."

Ed snorted. "Honourably, dishonourably - what's the difference? I'm _free_, and I want to celebrate it." Ed's scowl darkened. "Though what celebrating has to do with damn chopsticks and fucking sushi restaurants, I don't know."

Al sighed at his brother's hard-headedness. "Come on, nii-san. Here," Al handed Ed his seventh pair of chopsticks. "Try again. Maybe use your left hand if your automail won't cooperate."

Ed shot a glare at his brother. "I've already tried that. _It didn't work_."

Al shrugged helplessly. "Try harder?" he suggested encouragingly.

Ed grunted, letting his head drop onto the table below him with a resounding _thump_. This was going to be a _long_ night.


	5. Fireflies

**Please don't kill me for the update spam. xD**

**This is set while Ed and Al are on the island... In case you couldn't guess from the story. ;D**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**Fireflies**

_Grumble grumble._

"Don't tell me you're hungry again _already_, nii-san. We just ate two hours ago!"

Ed made a whiny noise of protest, wriggling in his spot on the large foliage. "I know, but I can't help it! I have a large stomach, and two fish in nine hours isn't going to fill it!"

Al sighed. "Come on then. We'll see if we can find any of those nice mushrooms you liked."

Ed blinked in surprise as Al sat up. "Now? It's dark!"

Al shot Ed a look of sleepy frustration. "Do you want some food or not, nii-san?"

Ed nodded as he followed Al out of the clearing and into the dense woods surrounding it.

They trekked for as long as two sleepy boys could, and eventually they collapsed against a secure-looking tree somewhere far from the clearing, and Ed was struggling to keep his eyes open.

"I can't be bothered to go back tonight, Al," Ed whispered.

Al shook his head from its place on the ground next to Ed's feet. "Me neither. Should we stay here?"

"Yeah. Nowhere else is any better than this, anyway. Everywhere's the same."

Al made a lazy hand gesture to catch Ed's attention as he saw his brother's eyelids drooping. "Don't fall asleep like that, nii-san. You'll have a bad back in the morning."

Ed blinked sleepily, realising that Al was right; slumped against a tree with his head lolling to the side probably wasn't the best sleeping position. With a groan, he shifted and turned around so he was lying beside Al, on his back, staring through half-lidded eyes at the stars.

Al seemed to notice this, and averted his eyes to the heavens as well. "They're pretty, aren't they?" he asked.

"Huh?" Ed drawled sleepily.

"The stars. There's even less artificial light here than in Resembool... Look, there's the Milky Way!" Al whispered excitedly, pointing at a brilliant glowing streak across the sky.

"Eh..." Ed murmured in amazement. "It really is as pretty as Winry said."

Al smiled. "Yeah. Just think; every one of those dots is a sun, shining light onto its own solar system... Wow," Al finished with a giggle.

Suddenly, Ed sat bolt upright, shocking Al almost out of his skin. "N-nii-san?"

Ed glanced around frantically at the blinding darkness, and his breathing became faster and more ragged, though he didn't answer.

"What is it?" Al asked, a note of panic in his voice, as he propped himself up on his elbows.

"I thought I saw something," Ed breathed, so quietly Al could barely hear him. "I thought... Never mind." Ed flopped back down onto the grass.

"You thought what?" Al pushed, also lying down again, though his gaze didn't return to the sky. "You're making me worry."

Ed pursed his lips. "I thought I saw that masked weirdo, but I guess I'm just jumpy. And tired."

Al let out a breath of relief. "Oh."

Ed jerked upright again, his eyes narrowed. "Okay, I _know_ I saw something this time."

Al sat up fully. "What was it?"

Ed shook his head as he said, "I don't know. It was... sort of glowing."

"So it wasn't the masked man, then?"

Ed shook his head firmly. "It couldn't have been. It was too small, and it was... a bit _yellow_, I think."

Al raised a curious eyebrow. "A glowing yellow thing?"

Ed nodded, screwing his face up at how stupid it sounded. "I'm serious."

Al sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Whatever you say, nii-san."  
Ed huffed in indignation. "I'm not lying, Al! I swear I- _Look_!"

Al tiredly turned around to glance in the direction his brother's chubby finger was pointing, expecting to see nothing - maybe a yellow mushroom at most. However, his eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of something that was definitely there, and definitely glowing. "N-nii-san...?" he whispered.

Ed nodded, and the two sat, statue-still, for a good few minutes before they saw it again. This time, however, it - whatever it was - stayed, giving Ed and Al a chance to gasp in sync.

Before they knew it, another yellow light appeared, and another, and another - until the trees surrounding them were covered with the tiny sparkles.

"Wow...!" Ed whispered, eyes like saucers taking up most of his facial space.

Al mimicked his expression perfectly, before boldly reaching towards a nearby dot, which quickly fluttered off, much to Al's surprise. "They're alive?"

A look of realised dawned on Ed's face. "I've read about these, Al. In one of okaa-san's animal books. They're... What was it? 'Fireflies', I think."

"'Fireflies'?"

Ed nodded. "They're little bugs that have glow... I'm not sure how, but they're really cool. I never thought I'd see one," Ed whispered.

Al smiled widely, a look of awe still on his childlike face. "They're so pretty... Almost as pretty as the stars, even."

Ed nodded as he compared the insects to the sky above them, now seeming so ordinary. "Prettier."

Al giggled quietly, slowly laying himself back down on the grass, and Ed copied the motion. "I think I'm glad you dragged me out here, nii-san."

Ed grinned. "Me too."


	6. Dark

**Hey. Just a tiny thing I came up with... Sorry for shortness xD**

**Prompt: Dark  
Genre: Angst/Romance  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Elricest, dark!fic, tiny sexual references**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**Dark**

They would spend their private moments making mocking, if rather crude, jokes about it; they would jest at the immorality of it all, laugh at the wrongness society had tried to force them to believe in. During the soft days they spent alone together in the small, though homey, apartment, they would kiss and touch and smile and believe with all their hearts that the only reason it was forbidden was because everyone else was jealous of the pure beauty of their love. While the shining sun was up, bathing their sinning selves in golden light, everything in the world was right and proper.

But in the dark depths of the sunless night, after committing the ultimate taboo, Al would often be woken by his brother's stifled sobs as he cried himself to sleep with blame.


	7. Blank

**Way past "late" - should definitely not be writing this. But, alas, I was shot through the heart by a stupid arrow of inspiration, so here I am. (Writing something that isn't Elricest - le gasp!)**

**Set in the canon timeline of the manga. (Exactly where will become obvious when you read.)**

**Prompt: Blank  
Genre: Angst  
Rating: K+  
Warnings: Angst, basically.**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**Blank**

His mind, his senses, the world around him... Everything was blank.

There were voices - oh yes, there were plenty of voices. Some seemed to be yelling and shrieking furiously, while others were more concerned and - Roy absently noted in the back of his mind - directed at him. He was sure that he should have recognised them, recognised the potentially life-threatening situation he was in at that moment - but in his horrid, shaky state of stunning shock bordering on denial, Roy heard nothing.

Screams, shouts, wails of agony - all silent. The entire universe as he knew it could have come crashing down at the pale feet quaking in his boots and Roy would not have noticed.

... He _could_ not have noticed.

Because if there was one thing Roy was entirely certain of in that single, terrifying moment of chaos, it was that he could not see a thing.


	8. Beach

**Another shortie (excuse the pun-DON'T COME ANYWHERE NEAR ME WITH THAT BLADE) about the team.**

**Prompt: Beach  
Genre: Humour  
Rating: K+  
Warnings: None. (Except the bad influence of Roy's distaste for hard work.)**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

Beach

Havoc burst into raucous laughter.

It was hard not to, really, when the famous (or infamous) Fullmetal Alchemist was standing across from you with an expression of sheer terror painted on his tanned face.

You see, Roy had wanted to show his team that it wasn't all work with him - you know, have a little fun while actually working. Since the main suspect of Roy's latest case also happened to have a day job as a life guard at the beach near the lake, Roy thought it would be a good idea to cart his crew off to the golden sands - Roy could keep watch on the suspect while relaxing and drinking cocktails in the sun. Perfect plan.

Apparently, though, beaches weren't Ed's thing.

Roy idly wondered in the back of his mind as he watched Hawkeye and Breda cart the unconscious boy off the hospital wing whether there was a name for a phobia of beaches.


	9. Light

**Hey. By the way, none of my stuff is ever proofread (I'm too lazy) so forgive mistakes, ne? ;)**

**Prompt: Light  
Genre: Um... Fluff?  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Language, Elricest hints (or just brotherly fluff)**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**Light**

Sometimes I wondered if, after all the shit with the Gate, our souls were still connected.

Because the other day, there was a power cut; it wouldn't have been too bad if it wasn't currently gone midnight, and so completely pitch black.

Havoc had been stumbling around like a madman, panicking and tripping over every single piece of furniture in the room - and seemingly more - in an attempt to see something. Most of Mustang's team was still there writing their arses off in an attempt to finish overdue work, so, as you can imagine, it was pretty damn chaotic. No one could see a thing.

Except, apparently, me.

Because I saw Al. I saw him, in his human body, as he fumbled with some matches, attempting to control the tiny pieces of wood with over-sized leather gauntlets. But, when I looked at him, his hands were skin and bone. Pink flesh tinged grey with darkness. It was as if I was seeing not his body, but his soul. Something that usually can't be seen in the blinding light of day. Part of me knew I was being totally illogical - souls aren't tangible things. You can't just _see_ them.

But I saw him. I saw him, and I knew I wasn't imagining it when I walked over to him, took the matches out of his massive hands - too massive (and cold) to be human flesh - and struck one.

I'd heard the armour creak slightly as Al shifted in confusion; after all, how could I possibly have seen what he was doing in the darkness?

But I simply shot him a knowing smirk - to which he made a murmur of further confusion - and winked, albeit a bit sadly, because I knew that Al would never see that pure, shining light.


	10. Gold

**Weird writing is weird.**

**(Please excuse grammar mistakes; I was too lazy to check whether everything made sense. It probably doesn't.)**

**Prompt: Gold  
Genre: Reflective? Sorta a bit spiritual, I guess...  
Rating: K+  
Warnings: Monologue. Boring monologue.**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**G o l d**

It's just one of those questions; 'What's your favourite colour?' is often asked merely to fill up an awkward silence. The most common answers in the military are 'blue' (y'know, military pride and all that), 'red' (blood, violence, fighting, etc) and 'green', surprisingly. Perhaps it's something to do with the fact that the soldiers of Central City miss the lush green countryside of their home towns... But I digress.

The point is, I am often faced with awkward situations in which various military personnel have heard of my brother and his outrageous antics and thus have no idea how to behave around me. Most seem to assume that just because we're related, we must have similar personalities. Many are genuinely surprised when I offer to help them carry heavy goods or if I open the door for them. (In fact, they're even surprised when I smile.)

I digress again.

'What's your favourite colour?' is a question that I am frequently asked by uncomfortable-looking soldiers unsure of whether to treat me as an ordinary civilian (which I am) or as the Fullmetal Alchemist's brother (which I also am).

I think most of the soldiers who know me personally expect me to say something like 'blue' or 'white', or perhaps 'yellow'; those who don't tend to expect 'red' or 'black', like my brother.

No one - not even Winry - expects me to say 'gold'.

I think most people imagine it has something to do with my brother's hair or eye colour; or possibly my own hair or eye colour. Maybe even because gold is a shining, victorious colour.

But they're wrong.

One reason I like gold is more because of the element than the colour itself. Gold is an amazing substance; it is metal, yet it doesn't rust, even after thousands of years, and a strong person could probably bend it with their bare hands. It is used for all kinds of things, from jewellery to fillings, and has the oddest chemical formula.

Though I suppose the true reason I love gold is because of the memories. This probably sounds childish, but every time I see the colour gold it reminds me of Resembool. Winry, nii-san and I often used to watch the sunrise in Resembool, and that burning ball of gas somehow always managed to light up the sky is shades of brilliant gold; it's a sight that's hard to forget.

So when ignorant soldiers ask me the unavoidable question, I always give them my most shining smile - the one nii-san describes as 'golden' - when I tell them my answer.


	11. Adorable

**What is it with me and present-tense Al-centric stuff today?**

**Prompt: Adorable  
Genre: Family fluff with added cats.  
Rating: K  
Warnings: Human!Al and kitties.**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**A d o r a b l e**

"Nii-san, please!" I whine.

"No."

I pout sullenly at him, and he's about to respond with another 'We've already got two cats' when the fluffy bundle clutched in my arms mewls irresistibly at my stubborn brother.

Nii-san halts, his mouth still open as if to say something. He glances down at the shivering grey kitty, then back up at me. I can practically feel the inner battle currently taking place in nii-san's mind, and I mentally chant to myself like a mantra 'Do not smile, do not smile' because I know nii-san's about to cave.

He sighs gruffly, before irritably waving an automail hand in my direction as he turns to carry on towards the apartment. I grin brightly at nii-san's back as he mumbles, "Fine. But no more after this one, okay? We barely have enough room in the flat as it is with Button and Mindy, and the landlady says we're not supposed to have pets anyway..."

"Yay!" I squeal, throwing my arms around nii-san from behind, careful not to hurt Silver - what I named my new kitty - in the process. I hear him grumbling something about 'annoying little brothers', but I don't pay any mind to it as I skip down the road with my six-month early birthday present held tightly to my chest.


	12. Books

**Nihao~ :3 I'm writing a lot recently, aren't I~?**

**Also, ignore the references to earth. I know it doesn't exist where Amestris comes from, blah blah blah xD**

**Prompt: Books  
Genre: Humour  
Rating: K+  
Warnings: None~**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**Books**

Roy huffed under his breath, glancing irritably at the clock for the sixth time that minute. "Havoc," he snapped as said man attempted to subtly light a cigarette.

Havoc flinched. "Sorry sir," he mumbled in disappointment.

Breda sniggered from beside him. "This is why you're never sent on spy missions."

Havoc shot a wry glare in his direction. "Shut up."

Before Breda could come up with a suitably witty comeback, there was a painful squeal of chair leg on flooring, and both men winced at the harsh sound.

Breda turned around to see Roy striding (well it was more of a mixture between marching and stomping, but for the sake of the man's pride Breda called it striding) across the room and towards the door. Breda didn't dare ask where his boss was going for fear of getting incinerated - one wrong word around a pissed off Mustang and you were charcoal.

Hawkeye, however, was far less cowardly. "Where do you think you're going, sir? I believe you still have thirty-seven documents to check over and sign."

The door slammed shut in her face, though a muffled "Hughes" could be heard echoing down the narrow corridor.

* * *

Hughes sighed. "I keep telling you, Roy - the boys are nowhere to be found."

Roy ground his teeth together, trying his very best not to let his best friend die a very painful, fiery death right then and there. "They can't have just _disappeared off the face of the earth_, Maes. They've got to be _somewhere_."

Hughes shrugged far too casually for Roy's liking. "Who knows. Those boys are geniuses, Roy. I'm sure if they wanted to, they could disappear off the face of the earth just fine."

There was a loud yelp as Hughes' salad came in contact with his face.

"Don't joke around, Hughes. Fullmetal and his brother could be in serious trouble, and all you're doing is sitting at your desk and _eating._ Get off your sorry arse and go find them!" And with that, Roy 'strode' out of the cosy office and into the beautifully picture-less corridor.

* * *

Three hours, seven minutes and thirty-five seconds later, a flustered Fuery slammed open the door to Roy's spacious office with a loud yell of "Sir!"

Roy's eyes shot up from his work - partially because of the possibly news that was awaiting him and partially because he'd take any distraction from his work right now - and he glared daggers at his subordinate as if daring him to tell him he couldn't find the young alchemist and his larger brother.

"We... We found them, sir."

Roy raised an angry eyebrow. "Where, Fuery?"

Fuery struggled to suppress a smile. "It seems that earthquake earlier today caused a bit of trouble for them in the library."

Roy raised the other eyebrow, this time in surprised curiosity. "Go on, Fuery."

Fuery gave up the losing battle and let a highly amused grin spread across his mousey features. "We found them buried under a rather large pile of books, sir."


	13. Secret

**New 'Image Manager' feature - is anyone else thinking 'What the fuck?' O.o**

**Prompt: Secret  
Genre: Romance/Angst  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Language, Elricest, sex references, angst, insanity (the bad kind), human!18-year-old!Al, 19-year-old!Ed.**

**Notes: I made the age of consent in Amestris 18. Just 'cause I didn't know what it was. And I also made gay relationahips and incest illegal. Y'know, for dramatic effect.**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**Secret**

"Sir," the bland soldiers chorused from in front of him. "Here is the man Hakuro wishes you to look after."

Roy resisted the urge to sigh, glancing up from his paperwork at the dishevelled man he was supposed to keep watch of. His hair was a dull brown and was down past his shoulders (though not like Fullmetal's - no, Fullmetal looked after his hair; this man clearly didn't), and there were streaks of shiny grease coursing through the limp, tangled strands. He was unshaven and was wearing a dirty grey pullover and jeans that Roy guessed were supposed to be blue. To the untrained eye, he was just another poor man in his mid-forties. Unfortunately, Roy knew better; the arrogant smirk somewhat reminiscent of Fullmetal's and the strange glint in his eye made Roy incredibly uncomfortable.

"He says his name is Edmund Jameson, sir."

Roy spared the young soliders a brief glance before nodding and dismissing them.

As soon as the two grunts were out of the room with the plain wooden door firmly shut behind them, Roy's eyes narrowed. "So..." he mused slowly as he absorbed every detail of the scruffy male slouched in front of him. "This is the man Hakuro wants me to look after?"

Edmund grinned, flashing yellowed teeth. "Oh don't mind me. I'm not here to cause trouble."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Then why _are_ you here, if you don't mind me asking, Mr. Jameson?"

"Oh, Edmund, please." Edmund invited himself to sit down, bored with formalities. He wriggled into a comfortable spot and sighed in satisfaction, suddenly reminding Roy of a cat. _His eyes are oddly yellow, too._

"Okay, _Edmund_... Why are you here, if not to cause problems for us poor military men?"

Edmund snorted. "I didn't _want_ to some here, y'know. I was just in my house, minding my own business when - poof! - these two soldiers come a-knockin' on my door, telling me to come with them to Central Command or they'll shoot me."

Roy looked on in mild surprise. "You must have done _something_, Edmund."

Edmund shrugged, glancing lazily around the cosy office as he replied casually, "Nothing much. Just dabbling in some unusual alchemy. Nothing illegal, mind you," he added when he noticed Roy's face go cold.

Roy slowly capped his pen, setting it aside in silent defeat - all the interruptions had quelled his motivation to attempt to finish his paperwork. "If you don't mind me asking, Edmund," Roy asked quietly, "what kind of alchemy, exactly, were you 'just dabbling in'?"

Edmund shot Roy a - quite frankly - scary look from half-lidded yellow-green eyes as the arrogant smirk returned. "Sin."

Roy's breath caught in his throat.

"Not what you're thinkin', though. Nothing like human transmutation or anything. I said it was perfectly legal, remember? When I say sin, I mean the ability to 'see' sin."

Roy looked on in bafflement, urging the man on.

There was an edge of pride in the man's voice as he continued. "You see this?" Edmund rolled up his left sleeve and pointed at a transmutation circle carefully inked onto the back of his pale forearm.

Roy nodded cautiously.

"When I activate it, it allows me to sense sin. It's almost like a sixth sense, halfway between sight and taste."

Roy raised an eyebrow, slowly shaking his head. "I don't understand, Edmund. Why did you do this?"

Edmund's grin broadened into something almost crazed. "'Cause I just can't get enough of sin. It's like treacle running through my veins; sickly sweet, dark and sticky and impossible to completely get rid of. I love it."

Havoc exchanged a wary glance with Breda from across the room as he twirled his finger by his temple, to which Breda silently nodded in agreement.

Roy, meanwhile, was beginning to see why Hakuro wanted someone to watch over the man, clearly teetering on the edge of sanity.

"It's like a drug," Edmund continued. "I just can't get enough of it."

Roy sucked in a quiet breath. This man was obviously incredibly smart - few people would have thought to use a simple four-point circle when dealing with matters of the mind - but he was dangerous, no matter how many times he insisted he wasn't. Roy let out the breath in a thoughtful sigh, closing his eyes and pressing two fingers to his temple.

Edmund appeared to be completely oblivious to the odd looks exchanged by the other six occupants of the room and the tense silence that had settled over them all. "Shall I demonstrate?"

Roy's eyes flew open in panic, but before a word of objection could leave the mouth which had suddenly gone dry, there was a slap of skin hitting skin as Edmund touched the array and an almost blinding orange light, shockingly different in both appearance and atmosphere to either Roy's or Fullmetal's famous transmutations.

But what was probably the scariest thing was the crack of manic laughter shortly afterwards.

Everyone bar Hawkeye flinched at the barked sound. Edmund's eyes were now grossly widened, showing blood-shot whites and dilated pupils with a thin sliver of colour in-between.

Edmund laughed again, though this time it was fractionally more controlled. "God, this is so much better! The military headquarters really is the place to be when you want sin... I mean, this place is practically _drowning_ in murder!" The exclamation was punctuated by a rather out-of-place laugh that sent prickles dancing and slithering along Roy's spine.

Yes, this man was dangerous.

"All of you... Death... Killing...! Ah, it feels so nice."

Nobody dared to speak.

Nobody dared to _breathe_.

"Aww, what's wrong with all of you? Lighten up! It's a fine day; not a time to get all down."

Roy didn't need to look out of the window behind him to know that the rain was pelting down in frigid sheets on the fragile glass.

There was another insane laugh, but Edmund cut himself off before he could carry on, his smile suddenly wiped off his face, leaving a blank canvas there instead.

"What is it, Edmund?"

Edmund's gaze lowered to the coffee table in front of him - which Roy swore was cowering - and Roy was about to ask again, just in case the dishevelled man hadn't heard him, when Edmund whispered, in the tiniest of voices, "I feel it."

"Feel what?" Roy gently urged.

Edmund slowly turned to face him, and the look Roy saw in his eyes was brutal. "_Sin._"

Roy nodded slowly, cautiously. "I know, Edmund."

Edmund suddenly shook his head, and the grin began to return as he stood up, suddenly energized to the max. "No, no - this is different - this isn't murder! This is something... so different; it's shiny and dirty and pink and black-"

"What is it, Edmund?"

"-beautifully ugly-"

"Edmund."

"-tainted with sin-"

"Edmund!"

"-turns them black and blue inside-"

There was a terrible screech as Roy stood up, slamming his palms on his desk and shoving the chair back against the wall behind him. "_What is it_?"

Edmund's eyes widened. "Pure, unadulterated, _filthy_ love."

Roy blinked in shock - he had _not_ expected that - but just as he was about to ask what Edmund was on about, Edmund's face became one of blissful calm and he mouthed, before dropping gracelessly to the floor, '_They're here._'

The thump of Edmund's unconscious body hitting the wooden flooring was masked by the loud creak of Roy's office door opening and two young voices emerging from the other side.

"-Was completely fucking crazy. I mean, did you _see_ the-"

Alphonse cut his brother off with a gentle tap on the shoulder and a gesture to the ragged body lying in the middle of Roy's office.

Fullmetal raised a casual eyebrow, before giving his attention to Roy. "What the hell happened?"

When all he received was a roomful of wary and confused stares, his face scrunched up in self-conscious annoyance. "Geez, I was just asking." He stomped over to his black leather sofa, emotionlessly stepping over the man who could have been dead for all he knew as if it was just an inconvenience.

His brother quickly followed, though spared the body a worried glance before joining Fullmetal on the sofa. "Mr. Mustang, what happened?"

Roy sighed tensely, still not quite sure what was going on himself. "In short, Hakuro sent this man to me to keep watch over. He activated an array on his arm then passed out just as you arrived."

Alphonse's eyes lit up. "An array? What sort of array?"

"It was one he'd created himself," Roy said carefully, observing the boy as he spoke. "When activated, it let the wearer, as he put it, 'see' sin."

The young alchemist's face twisted up in confusion. "'See' sin?"

Roy nodded. "He claimed he could use it to sense sin. Said it was like a drug. However he activated the array before I could prevent him from doing so, and he began to act... well, insane, to put it bluntly. He was talking about the brilliance of the military because it was 'drowning in murder'. But then..." Roy trailed off.

Alphonse raised an eyebrow. "Then what happened? Did he try to hurt someone?"

Roy shook his head. "No, he didn't - but he did start talking about some rather... _strange_ things."

Fullmetal turned his head to face Roy, now clearly intrigued. "What things?" he asked.

Roy was hesitant to answer. If they were indeed linked to the odd babblings of Edmund, then they'd kept it well-hidden; and if that was the case, then Roy doubted he would get the answers out of the boys simply by asking, as they'd obviously chosen to hide it for a reason. _Though I don't see much choice_. "After a few minutes, he said he could sense a different kind of sin, something nothing like murder. It must've overpowered him, because he fainted shortly after telling me that 'they're here'. Do you know anything about this, Fullmetal? Alphonse?"

The boys' eyes widened. "What?" Al asked in shocked confusion. "I don't-"

"Maybe," Fullmetal cut him off. "Maybe... it was the human transmutation. I mean, it was a pretty big sin, so maybe he could sense it as we were walking down the corridor."

Roy sighed. "Usually I would agree, Fullmetal, but the things Edmund said have led me to eliminate that possibility."

Fullmetal raised an eyebrow. "Things like what?"

Roy shot him a cold stare. "He was talking about _love_."

There was an almost imperceptible exchange of looks between the boys; something usually not noticed unless searched for.

Unfortunately for them, Roy _was_ searching for it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Fullmetal said just a little too quickly. "We've got nothing to do with this insane love thing."

Roy's eyes narrowed. "I never said it had anything to do with _you_."

There was a short, abrupt silence as Fullmetal realised his fatal mistake.

A whisper of shaky breath.

A creaky clench of an automail fist.

A guilty sigh.

Roy knew he'd won.

"Fullmetal... What on _earth_ is going on?"

It was Alphonse, however, who spoke. "It's... He can't tell you. I'm sorry, Mr. Mustang."

Fullmetal leaned forward, elbows on knees, face in palms, leaving his brother in clear view from behind him.

"Why not, Alphonse? Why can't you tell me?"

"Because..." the boy drew in a long breath. "Because you'd arrest him."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Arrest him? Alphonse, what has your brother done that deserves _prison_?"

Al broke eye contact, letting his gaze drop to his lap as a somewhat guilty expression crossed his face, as if he wished the world would swallow him up whole and spit him back out somewhere else. "I-I'm sorry, I ca-"

"I'm in love with my brother."

All eyes turned to the hunched figure of the young alchemist decked in red.

"... What...?" Roy breathed.

The glance of sheer horror and panic from Alphonse was all that was needed to confirm it.

Roy continued to stare, wide-eyed, unmoving.

"I love Al."

Far too many thoughts were swirling around in Roy's head; jumbled up, jarred and _cracked_-

"More than I should."

-_horrible, horrible_-

"And he loves me back."

-_this can't be real, they wouldn't do this, this is some sick joke_-

"It isn't illegal," Havoc murmured quietly. "To love each other."

-_world spinning, what the fuck is going on and why would they do something like that? twisted and I think I need to vomit_-

"It's illegal," Al whispered. "It's illegal in so many ways."

-_Edmund was right, tainted with sin, filthy love_-

"We're boys."

-_black and oh god_-

"We're brothers."

-_what am I supposed to feel? sympathy, pity, disgust, support, practically my sons_-

"I was seventeen."

Roy didn't hear the sound of his head meeting the floor.


	14. Slash

**Ahahahahahaha... Don't ask. Just... don't.**

**Most of you, I know, will be glad to know this is NOT Elricest. :3 (In fact, neither of the Elric brothers are even mentioned. xD)**

**Prompt: Slash  
Genre: Humour/Parody  
****Rating: K+  
Warnings: AU, because how the hell else would you get laptops in 1914?**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**Slash**

Roy's eyes narrowed in dangerous anger at his onyx eyes skimmed the laptop screen in front of him. "What is this... '_slash'_?"

Falman cleared his throat and straightened his back as he drawled, "'Slash', otherwise known as 'yaoi', 'shonen-ai' and 'BL', short for 'boys love', is the romantic relationship between two men in fiction, most commonly fanfiction... which would be what you're reading right now, sir."

Havoc almost dropped the cigarette he was attempting to light without Hawkeye seeing in shock when Roy let out a murderous snarl from behind his mahogany desk.

"This..." Roy gave up on words and harshly tugged a glove out of his azure uniform pocket. He was about to snap when Hawkeye calmly took his wrist, reminding him that if he broke the laptop he'd have to pay for it out of his own pocket.

So instead, Roy headdesked.

"What is it, sir?" Breda asked when he'd regained consciousness (Roy's growl had been very scary).

There was no reply from the mop of black hair - which was a bad sign in itself - but when Hawkeye's blonde eyebrow rose and her deep brown eyes widened as she scanned the typed font on the shiny screen, the rest of the team knew they were all doomed.

"What is it?" Breda asked again, this time his voice a few semitones higher and there was an audible shake to his voice.

Riza continued staring at the offending screen for a few more seconds before blinking twice, as if snapping out of a trance, and glancing at her colleague. "I... I think it would be best if you never found out."

And with that, she viciously yanked the cable out of the electronic device.


	15. Lift

**Muahaha. This was shockingly fun to write :3 I don't write Riza often, so I hope I got her in character...**

**Prompt: Lift  
Genre: Romance  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Fluff and - shock horror! - Royai :3**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**Lift**

"What... is _this_, Lieutenant?"

Riza refrained from sighing irritably. "_That_, sir, is a jammed lift button."

Roy shot her a slightly panicked glance before throwing formality out of the window. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"Would I kid about something like this, sir?" Riza answered coolly, letting her gaze drift over the walls of the small space in an attempt to find something that would get them out of this mess.

"Lieutenant," Roy said, a note of nervous anger in his voice - though it was more aimed at the situation in general than at Riza - as his eyes widened fractionally, "I have a very important meeting that I _need_ to attend. In _two minutes_."

"I am aware of that, sir."

Roy carried on as if she hadn't spoken. "If I don't attend this meeting, Lieutenant, I will lose possibly my first chance at a promotion in years. I might even be _de_moted."

"I know, sir."

"I will lose my reputation - this is possibly the most important meeting in years, Lieutenant, so I can't afford to miss it because I'm _stuck in a lift_-"

"_Sir_!"

Roy drew in a sharp breath as a familiar, metallic iciness came in contact with the side of his throat. He chanced a glance down, only to wish he hadn't.

Riza's eyes were burning with unreleased annoyance, and her lip was almost curled into a snarl. "No offence, sir, but if you can't _be quiet_ for two seconds then I'm not going to be able to concentrate for long enough to figure out how to kick-start the mechanisms again so we can get out of here!"

It was a struggle for Roy not to break her gaze and glance at his shuffling feet.

Riza sighed, rubbing her temple before holstering her gun once again and marching towards the malfunctioning buttons. She pulled out a small screwdriver, at which Roy furrowed his brows in bafflement, and detached the shiny alloy cover, revealing the writhing mass of multicoloured wires beneath.

Roy raised an eyebrow in surprise, before joining his Lieutenant. They examined the wires; prodded them, poked them, tugged them - Roy even snapped one in irritation - but nothing worked, and all that was gained for their efforts was a limp heap of annoyance and exasperation in their throats and a growing feeling of pessimism.

Thirty-seven minutes after Roy's meeting was scheduled to have started, he slumped against the far wall of the confined space, sighing heavily and grumbling to himself about regretting not reading Fuery's mechanics manuals.

Twenty-two minutes after that, Riza joined him, letting out an exhausted breath as she leaned her head back against the scuffed beige paint. "So, sir... What do we do now?"

Roy gave a hopeless shrug. "Wait for someone to notice the lift's not working, I guess."

Riza nodded professionally, before her posture slumped a bit and she asked more softly, "When will that be, sir?"

Roy cast her a sympathetic sideways glance. "Hopefully less than an hour. You know how no one can ever be bothered to use the stairs, so someone should notice as soon as the next meeting's over."

Riza nodded again, drawing in a quiet breath and letting it out in a frustrated sigh. If there was one thing she didn't like, it was sitting around being helpless. Well, that and neglected paperwork.

The soldiers sat in silence for quiet a while, relishing the break in busy day-to-day life, if nothing else.

To be honest, Roy quite liked moments like this. There was no point in worrying about anything right now, because he couldn't fix any problems in this current situation. He was physically unable to work, do paperwork, answer irritating calls from total arseholes who happened to be his superiors... No, right now it was all quiet, all silent. All the pressure was off. He could sit and simply _be_... The only thing that could make this moment any better was a bottle of whiskey.

Unfortunately, the bad thing about silence was the fact that it always made Roy think. And since he had nothing else really to think about, Roy was left pondering the thought of the problem that had been growing to completely unreasonable proportions over the past few months.

Roy sighed mentally. _What did Mr. Hawkeye always say? It was something like 'Thinking about problems won't solve them. If you want a problem solved, act on it'. Or something._ Roy let his eyes trail over the woman beside him for a moment. _There's no harm in trying, right...?_

Roy turned to face the blonde beside him before softly murmuring, "Lieutenant."

Riza opened her eyes in surprise at the tone of his voice, and was about to inquire about it when his gaze caught hers, and all her vocal chords seemed to just mysteriously disappear, leaving her with her jaw hanging slightly open quite uncharacteristically.

All she could do was mouth 'Sir' before Roy's lips were upon hers, pressing firmly but not forcefully, leaving Riza room to slap him if she wanted.

Slapping him, however, was the last thought on Riza's mind as the air left her lungs and she was forced to pull away to indulge her oxygen-deprived body.

The slightly hurt look in Roy's deep eyes was painful to look at, though it was the horrible, burning disappointment that made Riza forget about the rest of the marching puppets in the building and their ridiculous rules about fraternization and follow where her heart had been leading her ever since she'd met the man currently eight inches away from her.

Roy's jet black orbs widened in a thought-destroying mixture of shock, happiness and hope as the same lips he'd kissed a moment ago were again touching his... Though this time, he realised with an exhilarated skip of his heartbeat, _Riza_ was kissing _him._


	16. Photograph

**Got a mad rish of inspiration last night, but I didn't have time to write it... So here it is :3**

**Linebreaks are messing with my mind.**

**Prompt: Photograph  
Genre: Nothing much... a sprinkle of angst, maybe?  
Rating: K+  
Warnings: Again a lack of the Elrics. xD (It's all or nothing with me, isn't it? xD)**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**p . h . o . t . o . g . r . a . p . h**

Three knocks.

One minute.

No answer.

Roy nodded to the man beside him. "We're clear."

The blue-clad pair quietly slipped into the cramped apartment, carefully pushing the door closed behind them, and Hughes winced at the size of the far-from-homey military dorm.

"Ouch," he muttered. "I forgot just how small these things were."

Roy sighed, nodding wearily in agreement as he scanned his surroundings for hidden cameras. "I know. You can barely fit _one_ person in here, let alone _two_; I don't know how those boys have survived all these years."

"Mm," Hughes hummed in agreement before tugging open the jammed bathroom door to reveal a surprisingly clean, two-square-metre space. "Wow," Hughes whistled under his breath. "I didn't know Ed cleaned."

Roy snorted. "It was probably Alphonse."

Hughes made a noncommittal noise before fully immersing himself in the miniscule tiled room. He checked on the toilet, in the toilet, in the shower, in the sink, under the sink, in the cabinet, on the cabinet... "Nope. Nothing in here, Roy," he called to his partner in crime.

Roy replied from the only other room in the dorm. "Nothing here eith... Wait."

"Eh?" Hughes poked his head out from behind the chipped wooden door to peer curiously at his friend. "What'd you find?"

Roy batted a hand at the air vaguely in Hughes's direction without lifting his gaze from the rectangular object he held in his hand, spiking Hughes's interest.

Maes slowly crept up behind the alchemist, curious as to what on earth could have captured the entirety of Roy's attention like that... only to be pulled into the spiral of insanity himself.

To any other outsider, it was simply a captured image; a frame of reality stencilled onto paper; to anyone apart from those who had met the two teens whose apartment Roy and Hughes were currently searching for bombs, it was only a photograph of the brothers on Alphonse's eighth birthday; to all their acquaintances but a select few, it was a memory of their childhood and the innocence, happiness and blissful naivety encircling it; a time of peace, simplicity, youth and freedom in the Elrics' lives.

To the two soldiers standing statue-still, dumb and breathless on the ragged grey carpet, it was insanity.


	17. Hands

**I just want to say I HAVE A BETA NAO. So there shouldn't be any mistakes xD (I know there are sometimes :3)**

**LINEBREAKS HATE MEEEEEEEE - Actually, scratch that. FORMATTING hates me. -.-**

**Prompt: Hands  
Genre: Fluff? "Wonder", maybe...  
Rating: K+  
Warnings: Newly-human!Al. And way too much description. xD**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**h . a . n . d . s**

It was shocking.

Al was sprawled across the bed, propped up on a multitude of mismatched pillows as he was still unable to sit up himself. His thin, wiry fingers were interlocked with his brother's; four hands were joined, to the utter amazement of both boys.

Though to Al, this was pure joy like he had never felt before.

Ed's hands were, to the ordinary Central citizen, odd. Not only were they large and masculine - something in contrast to the rest of his figure - but one hand was rough with sandpaper-like calluses, while the other was as smooth as ice.

It was as cold as ice too, Al noticed, as a shiver crawled down his bony spine from the metal's touch. The automail limb was so alien, so false, and yet it was still as much a part of Ed as his flesh arm. This came as a surprise to Al - he'd never really touched automail before. He'd never been allowed to touch Granny's automail as a kid, and he'd already been in the armour when Ed had had the surgery. He'd known, logically, that the steel was cold; but at that point, Al had forgotten what cold even felt like. Now, however, was a completely different story as the freezing metal bit harshly into his baby-soft palm.

Yet the icy chill immediately dissipated as soon as Al focussed on the warm heat radiating from his brother's left hand. The tough skin and calluses that had built up over years of fighting may have felt like blunt knives on Al's still over-sensitive skin, but it could only be described as the best feeling in the world to the sense-deprived boy. The rough texture under Al's fingertips was his brother; a side of him he'd never been able to feel before, and that, though insignificant to most, was of great importance to the boy who wasn't quite sure whether he was fifteen or ten.

The contrast of the two (honestly quite painful) hands was shocking to Al and he relished every moment of the confused sensations his nerves were sending to his brain. Because this was his brother; this was Al's own body; this was _being alive._


	18. Knot

**HELLO. Yes, another one :D**

**Prompt: Knot  
Genre: Fluff... Possibly romancey?  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Language and mild Elricest :DDDDDD /shot**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**k . n . o . t**

"_Fuck_!"

I sigh, not bothering to glance over my shoulder at the ball of short-tempered irritation behind me. "What is it, nii-san?"

"Fucking knots in my hair-"

I cut him off. "If it annoys you so much, why don't you just cut it all off?"

The look I receive in return is truly a portrait of horror incarnate.

I smile wryly. "Well there you go then. Look, if you keep yanking the comb like that it's going to make your hair even more tangled. Here, give - nii-san, stop being immature! Give me the - ouch - comb! Stop hitting me! Just give me the comb and _I'll_ sort it out, because obviously you're too childish to listen to my advice!"

The wooden comb is reluctantly handed over, and I snatch it up with an exasperated sigh in my brother's direction before ordering the stubborn teen to sit down on a nearby dining chair.

I begin combing the ends of the hair, shushing nii-san when he squeaks in pain as I tug the long golden locks too harshly.

"Don't complain, nii-san. It's your fault the knots are so tangled in the first place. If you'd just listened to me..."

"Didn't need to," nii-san mumbles. "It was fucking annoying."

"Stop swearing."

"No _fucking_ way."

"_Nii-san._"

"Ow, ow, okay! I'll stop, please, just stop pulling my hair-!"

I laugh at the betrayed expression on nii-san's face, before gathering up the next chunk of writhing tangles.

He just glares at me.

I laugh more.

"Stop laughing!"  
I wave a dismissive hand. "Turn around. I can't comb through the tangles properly if you're facing me."  
Nii-san grumbles something about stupid little brothers under his breath and he turns his head to face forward again. I decide to let him off, as I'm sure I pulled his hair a little too hard before... and dammit if nii-san can't make me feel guilty about doing _anything_ mean to him.

A tranquil silence follows, dusting the atmosphere with relaxation as I finish ridding nii-san's thick hair of the last tangle.

Though he doesn't question me five minutes later when I'm still brushing his now silky-soft and perfectly tangle-less hair.

I know somewhere that I should probably have stopped the motion quite a while ago... but since nii-san now has his eyes closed and is purring with pleasure at the comb gently flowing through the strands of spun gold, and since his hair just looks so _pretty_ shimmering in the roaring sunset peeking through the partially-drawn burgundy curtains, I decide that one more minute wouldn't hurt.

Seventeen minutes later, I wonder if I should stop, as it looks like nii-san may have fallen asleep.


	19. Together

**Heh... Been writing this one on-and-off for a while now (namely ever since I got the prompt list). I finished it a couple of days ago, then forgot to upload it after my beta gave it back to me. (I narrowly escaped death. Apparently there were too many feels after reading this.)**

**Prompt: Together  
Genre: Angst/Tragedy  
Rating: T+ (? If that exists)  
Warning: CHARACTER DEATH and some strong brotherly love/mild Elricest, whichever way you take it. Also beware major angst and - well, I don't wanna give it away. Roy-centric.**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**t . o . g . e . t . h . e . r**

"Fullmetal?" Roy blinked in wary confusion at his Lieutenant. "No, I haven't seen him today. Why?"

Hawkeye shifted in a way that could almost be considered a casual shrug if it wasn't for the palpable tension radiating off her. "As far as I am aware, sir, you sent him on a very dangerous mission last week. I requested that he report to you by Thursday if he didn't think he could wrap things up within the next month," Hawkeye stated. "I know Edward may not be the most obedient or the most punctual subordinate you've ever had, sir, but he's very aware of other people, and he wouldn't simply forget to report if it would risk making everyone worry about him."

Roy nodded in agreement, urging her to continue. He ignored the writhing mass of a bad feeling in his stomach as he did so.

Hawkeye's eyes hardened. "Thursday was over a week ago, sir."

A bubble of an almost-gasp caught in Roy's throat. Hawkeye was right. Through all his arrogant facades, Fullmetal was almost fatally selfless, and he wouldn't neglect to call in if he knew someone might do something reckless out of worry for him.

Roy quickly pulled himself together, nodding to himself. He squared his shoulders in superiority, despite the fact that he was still sitting down and was looking _up_ at Hawkeye. "Have you contacted his brother?"

Hawkeye nodded. "Alphonse didn't answer the phone when I called - all three times, sir - and so I took it upon myself to go to his apartment. He wasn't there when I knocked, sir."

"Can you be sure?"  
Hawkeye nodded stiffly. "All the lights were off in the windows and it was completely silent. It looked as though the door had been locked from the outside."

Roy resisted the strong urge to run a hand through his tousled hair. He nodded instead. "I see. We can assume Alphonse went after his brother - it's the only plausible reason that he would vanish without thinking to tell me first." Roy gracefully stood, drawing himself up to his full height, and strode around his pine desk and towards the door out of the inner office. "Alert Hughes. See if he can make anything of the situation. I will read over the details of Fullmetal's mission. Perhaps Alphonse followed him there."

Hawkeye nodded with a brisk salute, before marching out of the office.

Roy followed just in time to see the door to the outer office shut, and his team's looks of mild confusion.

"What's going on, sir?" Havoc asked as Roy, too, made for the door.

"Nothing you need to worry about, Havoc. I'll tell you if I need your assistance." And with that, Roy was gone; no longer in his comfortable, familiar office that smelled of coffee and paperwork, but towards the almost as familiar office that belonged to one of the men Roy hated most in the military.

Unfortunately, that man also happened to be Roy's superior officer.

He rapped sharply, though politely, on the door before inviting himself in with a respectful salute at the man lounging behind his desk.

Said man turned in his swivel chair to face Roy, reminding him strongly of some evil genius in an old action movie. Roy resisted the urge to laugh at the cheesy music now running through his head. "Colonel Mustang? What a... _pleasure_ it is to see you."

They both knew that wasn't the case.

"At ease."  
Roy's hand dropped to his blue-clad side, though the tension in his stance didn't waver. "I am here to request permission to see Fullmetal's mission statement."

Hakuro raised an eyebrow. "May I ask why?"

"Because I believe Fullmetal may be in danger. I would like to know where he is so I can send my men in as backup."

Hakuro tilted his head slightly, observing Roy through lazily narrowed eyes as he searched for something. What that something was, Roy wasn't quiet sure, but he certainly wasn't enjoying the feeling of being mentally strip-searched.

After a long minute, Hakuro withdrew, nodding at his secretary. "Very well, Mustang. However, I expect you to report to me your findings."

"Yes, sir." Roy nodded, saluting again before accepting the file handed to him by the exceptionally pretty woman. _Trust Hakuro to get a secretary that looks like that._

Roy left the office in a worse mood than when he'd entered. He strode irritably through the corridors, alarming quite a few soldiers when he began to growl various nonsenses under his breath. He loathed Major General Hakuro; he loathed visiting him even more.

He stomped back through the outer office, not paying any mind when Fuery squeaked in alarm. The way he closed the door behind him was only a hair's breadth away from being a slam, and he dumped himself unceremoniously into his chair with a loud huff of irritation.

Though he forced himself to calm down when he was reminded of the reason he'd visited Hakuro in the first place.

His gaze focused on the green manila file on the wooden surface before him. This had been a mission given to Fullmetal directly by Hakuro. Normally, the mission was passed down the line, given to Roy first before it was finally handed to the young alchemist. This time, however, Hakuro had requested to see Fullmetal personally to deliver the mission statement - never a good sign.

Roy slowly opened the file, almost as if afraid of what he'd find there.

Though honestly, after Roy had skimmed through the briefing, it didn't sound too bad - Fullmetal had been sent on missions far more dangerous than this one before.

The idea was to kill a rogue alchemist driven savage by insanity. Everyone knew, however, that Fullmetal wouldn't kill him - it was against his morals, and it was common knowledge that when the Fullmetal Alchemist didn't want to do something, it wouldn't be done. Fullmetal would simply beat the man senseless and wait for the clean-up team to appear. They'd cart him off for questioning, and then either lock him up or execute him, depending on what he'd been found guilty of.

Yet there must've been something special about this alchemist - something the military hadn't anticipated; because Fullmetal was more than a week late in his check-up call, and Roy knew that Fullmetal only didn't respond when either the research was too enrapturing to remember or he was, in some way, unable.

Roy desperately hoped it was the former.

He closed the file and dragged calloused hands through the mop of jet-black hair on his head. Whatever this was, it had the potential to be big - and to be perfectly honest, Roy had far too much paperwork piling up to be gallivanting around the country looking for his rebellious subordinate.

Nevertheless, it had to be done, and Roy stood up to inform his still-confused team what was going on just as the door opened.

"I have informed Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, sir," Hawkeye greeted, cutting right to the chase with a sharp salute.

Roy nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Now, I'm going to tell Havoc et al. what's going on so they don't kill themselves with curiosity."

Hawkeye nodded, following briskly after Roy out of the inner office.

When the door was shut behind them, Roy cleared his throat, gaining his men's attention. "I have something I need to tell everyone."

There was an eager silence in reply.

"Fullmetal may be in danger."

"... Again?" Havoc and Breda chorused.

Roy sighed. "Yes. Again. Except this time, his life might actually be threatened."

Havoc raised an alarmed eyebrow. "What's going on?"

Roy waved the mission statement around idly. "His latest mission. Directly from Hakuro. He was supposed to report in to me over a week ago, but I haven't heard anything from him, or his brother, since he left."  
Curious, wary glances were exchanged around the room.

"What do you want us to do, sir?" Falman spoke up, always the logical one.

Roy let his gaze drift over the five members of his loyal team before speaking. "You will accompany me to the site of Fullmetal's mission. I want to know what on Earth could possibly be holding Fullmetal up."

"Yes, sir," the other occupants of the large room chorused, simultaneously saluting at their commanding officer, each eye gleaming with anticipation and apprehension.

"When will we leave, sir?" Hawkeye inquired.

Roy pursed his lips in thought. There was the option of leaving that moment - the best course of action if Fullmetal's life was on the line, but risky and could have detrimental effects on Roy's reputation; leaving suddenly and out of the blue with little to no explanation wasn't usually a well-respected course of action. But honestly, what other choice did he have? He'd been looking after the boy - no, _man_ - for nearly eight years, and he wasn't going to let his military pride get in the way of that now.

He straightened his back, as if to reassure his crew that there was no uncertainty. "Now."

After much hurried packing - weapons, ammunition, first-aid kits - and an almost-sprint to the station, the six military personnel made it onto the platform just as the train was leaving. Roy waved it down, shouting nonsense in a commanding tone of voice and flashing his rank angrily at the driver, who quickly slowed down so the team could board the train.

Havoc sighed dramatically as they slumped into empty seats crammed around a small table at the back of the vehicle. "Phew, that was close."

"Yeah, we're lucky the Colonel's so well known," Breda joked, grinning widely as he rummaged around in his pockets for a snack.

Roy chuckled deeply from beside the rotund officer. "It is rather useful, I must admit."

Most of the next half-hour was spent either gazing out of the window at the blurred colours as they whizzed by or making pointless small talk about the weather, paperwork or Havoc's broken garden hose. The small journey had seemed like hours to the tense soldiers, and when the doors opened the five men shot out of the train like cannons, followed only slightly more elegantly by Hawkeye as she quickly trotted onto the unfamiliar platform in her two-inch heels.

"So," Havoc said, if only to break the monotonous silence, "where are we?"

"Uh..." Roy glanced down at the file. "Some town called 'Roth'. The alchemist's house is apparently..." Roy turned the page, "... somewhere in the forest."

Havoc raised an eyebrow. "Where's that?"

Roy blinked, before quickly flipping through the file. "Uh... It's... somewhere near the town."

Falman leapt in to save the day. "One point four six miles north by-north-east of the town, sir."

Roy raised a slim eyebrow in amused disbelief at his subordinate's antics before saying, "Thank you, Falman." He drew in a breath in preparation, before gesturing for the white-haired man to lead the way. "Well, let's not waste time."  
Falman nodded, saluting, as he began to march swiftly off the platform - which was really just a few square metres of concrete beside a cute white picket fence, manned only by a single ticket booth containing a wrinkly old man currently taking his afternoon nap.

Roy decided the money for his ticket wouldn't be missed, and strode after his subordinate, gesturing for his team to follow as their boots met soft grass.

A few hundred metres down the country path, Havoc mused aloud, "It's a bit like Resembool, don't you think? What with the non-existent train station and the countless fields everywhere."  
Roy made a small noise of surprised agreement as he, for the first time, took the time to seriously look at his surroundings. It really was similar to Resembool - almost creepily so. Roy's subconscious idly wondered if that fact had anything to do with the brothers' mysterious disappearance.

They trekked for another fifteen minutes before Fuery caught sight of the forest behind a clump of lush, green rolling hills. "Ah, there!" he exclaimed, pointing at the splatter of deep green, barely visible, almost as if it was hiding.

Roy nodded, overtaking Falman as he began to lead the group towards the wood. His stride remained unwavering as they approached, though a small part of him couldn't help replaying music from old horror movies in his head, the paranoia finally sinking in and grabbing a hold with greedy black tendrils.

It was another half hour before they arrived at the rim of the forest. They all paused simultaneously just before entering, as though some unspoken dark force was warning them not to enter.

_Though that's just plain ridiculous_.

Roy mentally berated himself for being such a sissy as he took the first step into the dank wood, motioning for his wary soldiers to do the same. Fuery was the last to enter, though Roy heard Hawkeye murmur something about walking behind Fuery if he'd like, which made the corners of Roy's mouth twist into a wry smirk.

For the next god-knows-how-long, all that was heard from the six was the panting of breath as they marched up the steady incline and the occasional muttered curse when clothes caught on thorns.

"We _must_ be near the house now..." Havoc grumbled under his breath, though in the silence of the dim wood the expression of annoyance was heard by all.

Hawkeye sighed in agreement - she would never openly complain about something as mundane and easy as walking - and Breda nodded, too tired of shifting his heavy weight uphill to say anything.

The trek lasted another agonising hour before any sign of life could be seen. At first, it was simply a flickering glow of something, barely visible through the masses of looming foliage. Then, as the team gradually grew closer, it became three glows; then it was windows, then it was a cabin.

Roy halted suddenly at the sight. _A cabin._

Havoc rushed forward with the rest of Roy's crew in tow, eager to search the cabin, find the brothers and get the hell out of there.

Roy, however, was left rooted to the spot by something; he had no atom of an idea about what, but there was some horrible, writhing twist in his gut that felt like a cancer slowly building.

"Sir?" Hawkeye called softly, snapping Roy out of his black daze.

Roy nodded slowly, before unsteadily making his way towards the cute log cabin, picking up his place at the head of the six soldiers. "I'm fine, Lieutenant."

Hawkeye retreated to the tail end of the group, though it was obvious by the cautious looks she incessantly sent Roy that she was far from convinced.

The entire journey here, a small inkling of a hunch had been gently bubbling away in Roy's stomach acids; now it was coming to the boil, and Roy could barely control the aggressive, exploding bubbles and loud, violent fizzing. _There's something seriously wrong here._

The feeling was practically confirmed as the door slipped open under Roy's touch and a welcoming chill greeted him with a disturbing air.

The six military employees shuffled into the seemingly occupied building.

Well... it showed every sign of being occupied, but there was no one actually _there_. The lights were on, coffee cups were sitting, still lukewarm to the touch, on the coffee table and there was a half-finished dinner scattered across the kitchen counter.

"Havoc, you search the kitchen. Breda, the living room. Falman, the dining room. Fuery, the bathroom. Hawkeye and I will search upstairs."  
A murmured agreement sounded, though it was barely audible in the suffocating atmosphere of the creepily friendly building.

Thirty minutes revealed none of the house's secrets, to Roy's disappointment and ever-growing sense of dread.

They met again in the kitchen, repeating their unlucky searches to the rest of the team in hushed whispers.

"Nothing in here, either," Havoc muttered, leaning irritably against a freshly-painted wall as he rummaged in his pockets for a lighter. "Not a single bloody-"

The rest of the sentence was lost - as was its speaker - leaving behind five nonplussed soldiers and a very big question hanging in the air.

"What the hell just happened?"

Roy simply shook his head in answer to Breda's question; for he (and seemingly, even Falman) could not answer it.

One moment, Havoc had been bitching about the search, the next he was... gone. Roy wasn't entirely sure what had happened, since he'd been looking away at the time, but when he'd looked back, Havoc had been gone.

Falman was the first to snap back into reality. He stepped forward, into the spot Havoc had been standing, and mimicked his actions. _Clever_, Roy thought. _Maybe the same thing will happen to_-

Roy blinked.

Falman was gone, too.

Breda stepped forward next, and at Roy's commanding hand on his shoulder, Breda said, "If we want to find them, we should follow them, sir. And if they're in danger, they'll be best off if we're all there together, rather than just those two. I mean, no offence, but Falman isn't exactly the bets fighter in the group..."  
Roy sighed, closing his eyes in concentration. Yes, what Breda said made sense. So he stepped forward ahead of the stout man, and slouched against the lavender wall.

The next thing he knew, he was at the foot of a winding set of stone steps, trailing down into the rather intimidating darkness below. Roy couldn't really make out what was at the bottom - he was so far up - but he could see the outlines of his two subordinates in shocking blue that just about showed up... And one other thing, too. Roy couldn't see what it was properly - it was more like an amorphous black blob of something, but Falman and Havoc seemed to be staring intently at it, so whatever it was Roy guessed it was important.

He quickly began the steady descent, trying his best not to trip up on the shallow steps. The frequency of his echoing footsteps increased rapidly as he caught sight of the scene at the bottom of the long hidden staircase.

Though when he reached the bottom and _really_ saw it, there was a sudden absence of sound in the haunting basement.

In the artificial candlelight, two blonde heads were illuminated; one belonged to a body sprawled, limp and unmoving, across the blood-smeared floor... while another was shaking with silent tears as he kneeled helplessly alongside.

"Full... Fullmetal?" The sound that passed Roy's lips was barely more than a breath of air in a hurricane, but it was enough to turn the golden head towards him, revealing the dark trails of pink etched into the scarred face.

A lone tear fell, painfully slowly, towards the red floor - which Roy thought was definitely supposed to be grey - before the familiar, travel-worn face looked up, and Roy's eyes met with his.

Roy was almost bowled over by the intensity in those raging golden irises; the unshed tears glinted savagely in the harsh candlelight, and the bloodshot whites did nothing for the boy's blotchy complexion. The unfathomable sorrow in that pair of eyes felt, to Roy, like the end of the world a million times over, as if he was caught in that split second of indescribable agony over and over and over and he could never break the endless circle of writhing pain so evident in those sharp eyes.

A small, scared thought in the back of Roy's head chanted at him that if Roy was feeling that way simply by _looking_ at that face, then the agony the wearer must be feeling must have been-

No. Roy didn't even want to _think_ about it.

The rough alto spoke suddenly, hacking through the deafening silence like a blunt knife, butchering all happy thoughts that could have possibly lingered in the basement that suddenly felt far too small.

"Havoc."

Said soldier lurched in place, scared of the alarmingly broken edge to the boy's voice. After a moment, he fumbled around his dry tongue for intelligible words. "Y-yeah?" he whispered.

"Give me your gun."

Havoc blinked slowly, before reaching down towards the holster and drawing out the compact pistol. He handed it over to the broken alchemist in a daze, not realising the fatal mistake until the shiny black barrel was resting shakily against warm skin.

Roy's eyes flew wide open in panic as he yelled, "No, stop-"

But the words were lost in the earth-shattering gunshot and the soft thump as Edward Elric's body landed, dead, on his younger brother's.

* * *

"The brothers were always together," a feminine voice read from a shaking paper sheet clutched in her black gloved hands. "As soon as they saw each other, they refused to leave the other's side. All through their childhood everyone in our class was convinced they were twins magically born a year apart-" cue broken chuckles "-because they would never go somewhere without the other. I remember once their Trisha sent Al outside for refusing to do his homework, and Ed stormed out right after, saying that if Al had to stand in the rain so would he."

A small, sad smile spread throughout the church at this - it was just like something the Ed they all knew would do - (_suicide)_ - and it brought back many happy memories for the black-clad mourners.

"Those two were always together - in work and in play; in happiness and in sorrow... and," Winry's voice cracked, "in life... and in death."


	20. Torture

**This plot bunny had me up and running at 5:45 this morning. I was writing for about two hours non-stop. Now I'm tired. -.-**

**(Seriously, I don't think anyone should like this. Except my beta. 'Cause she's creepy.)**

**DVDS AND LAPTOPS NOW EXIST IN 1917, OKAY.**

**Prompt: Torture  
Genre: Horror  
Rating: M, probably  
Warnings: TORTURE and implied RoyEd. And language, of course.**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**t . o . r . t . u . r . e**

"Sir?" Hawkeye asked in concern as her superior officer continued to stand outside his office door for the fourth minute on end. "Is something wrong?"

Roy sighed gruffly, groaning quietly as his head slumped against the hard wooden surface. "Hakuro can be a total bastard sometimes."  
Hawkeye quirked a golden eyebrow. "What happened?"

Roy exhaled again and waved what appeared to be a DVD in the air wearily. "Fullmetal's torturer decided it would be funny to film the whole thing. Hakuro 'kindly' asked me to review it."  
There was a murmur of alarm throughout the small outer office, and Havoc asked cautiously, "Why?"

"So the higher-ups know how badly Fullmetal's hurt and how urgent it is to find him."

"Couldn't they look at it themselves?" Breda wondered out loud.

Roy gave out a sigh that sounded like something halfway between a groan and a growl. "That's what I was thinking."

Hawkeye shot her superior officer a sympathetic look. "Perhaps it would help to have someone with you?"

Roy glared at her, squaring his shoulders and grabbing a tight hold of the brass doorknob. "I'm not a child, Lieutenant. I can do this." He began to push open the door, before adding under his breath, "I just don't _want_ to."

The mahogany door shut quietly behind the pale man, leaving Roy wondering if he really should call for Hughes. _No!_ he shouted in his head. _I'm not a baby. I'm a thirty-two-year-old State Alchemist known for his brutality on the battlefield!_

He gave a huff and marched over to his desk and dropped gracelessly into his black leather office chair, carefully setting down the DVD on the flat surface in front of him as he opened up his laptop.

As soon as it had finished booting up, Roy, with a deep inhaled breath, inserted the DVD into the disk drive.

It took a few seconds before the laptop recognised the disk, and Roy had to physically stop himself from tapping his foot in impatience.

The recording began to play, and Roy suddenly felt very sick, despite the fact that it was pitch-black on the screen and all he could hear were shuffling sounds as the camera was moved.

Roy was so intensely concentrating on the black screen in front of him that he almost jumped out of his skin when his trusty Lieutenant knocked on his office door asking if she should bring him coffee.

"Yes please, Lieutenant."  
Hawkeye nodded and shut the door behind her. Roy cursed himself for not manning up about this. He'd seen torture before - hell, he'd even been the torturer! - so why should this be any different?

_Because it's Fullmetal._

He shook the impending sense of doom out of his vision, leaving him once again staring at the still-empty screen, even as Hawkeye quietly came and left, leaving freshly-made instant coffee in her wake.

"_Is this working?"_

Roy snapped to attention at the voice emanating from the electronic device.

A face flickered into view.

"_Can you see me, oh unfortunate watcher?"_

The face grinned manically and the sense of dread returned tenfold to the Flame Alchemist.

"_I'll take that as a yes." _

The face was quickly replaced by scuffed brown shoes as the camera was placed on the floor. Judging by the view of the rest of the room, Roy suspected the camera was roughly in the centre of the room, leaning back against the far wall. To the right, there was a dirty dark grey wall, barely illuminated by the dim lighting in the basement. To the left, slumped against the wall fractionally closer to the camera, was - Roy's eyes widened, and he had to force himself not to look away. _Oh god..._

Slouched tiredly against the left wall was Roy's alchemical prodigy, a look of wary defeat settling uncomfortably on the young face.

"_I'm guessing you're one of those military officers if you're watching this..."_

The face spoke again, though it didn't come back into view.

"_... So I'd just like to introduce myself. I'm James Kellar, and this is an abandoned basement on the east side of town. I'll be gone by the time you get here, though, so don't bother trying to find me."_

Another disturbing grin as the face briefly reappeared upside-down, before disappearing again.

"_Though I suppose the reason you're here isn't because of me."_

The boots shifted in Roy's vision, and James seemed to be heading towards Fullmetal. A few seconds later, Roy nearly choked on his coffee as the blonde's face was shoved sideways onto the ground directly in front of the camera so that Roy could see the expression on Fullmetal's face clearly; a pained snarl crumpled his features as he pulled back his lip, revealing bloodied teeth.

"_Say hello, Edward."_

"_Let fucking go of me,"_ the Edward in the video growled, attempting to glare up at his assailant, though his right cheek was merely pushed harder into the concrete below him so he glared at the camera instead.

"_Aww, but then you'd run away and that would ruin my fun."_

Ed spat blood on the ground, and some of it splattered onto the camera, decorating Roy's vision with dots of translucent red.

Ed was dragged away again and was thrown back against the stone wall with a grunt. The camera moved to follow him, and was set down parallel with the young alchemist's drawn up knees. His whole body was now in Roy's view, and Roy was relieved to see that the boy didn't appear to be seriously harmed, though judging by the half-congealed blood on his lip he'd been punched quite a few times. His famous red jacket was nowhere in sight, and Roy could see him shivering in the icy winter air.

"_Be nice, Edward,"_ James murmured sweetly as he sat astride Ed's lap. _"Or you'll find yourself in an even worse situation than the one you're in now."_

Ed snorted without humour, but said nothing, even as the older man drew out a knife from his belt.

James set the shiny steel down next to Ed's handcuffed wrists and looked at the young man in front of him thoughtfully. After a moment, he gently reached behind Edward's head.

Ed flinched as the hand touched his golden plait, shaking his head to bat away the offending limb and snarling savagely.

James pouted, his expression a look of hurt. _"Come on, Edward. I'm sure you look prettier with your hair down."_

"_Don't touch me,"_ Ed growled lowly in response.

James's brow furrowed and he picked up the knife, quickly drawing it across Ed's left upper arm, eliciting a pained hiss from the blonde. _"Bad boy. Don't be rude."_

James reached for Ed's hair again, and this time he met no resistance as he tugged the red elastic off. The golden hair fell down in shimmering waves, and James smiled as he rearranged it on Edward's narrow shoulders. _"Tell me, Edward... Why did you grow your hair so long?"_ James mused aloud.

"_None of your business,"_ Ed snapped as he attempted to wriggle away from the older man.

There was a resounding echo of something like a thunderclap as James's palm made contact with Ed's cheek. _"What did I tell you about being rude?"_

Ed glared.

James sighed irritably, crossing his arms over his chest as he pouted childishly at the alchemist. _"If you don't answer my question, Edward..."_ He leaned in closer until Ed could feel the warm breath shimmying over his ear. _"... I just might have to tell the authorities that you slept with your superior officer."_

Roy spat out the coffee he was sipping and stared wide-eyed in a way that perfectly mirrored the expression of the Edward on the screen.

"_And then where will you be, huh? You'll get fired for sure, and you'll be left to fend for yourself and your brother without a penny in sight..."_

Ed breathed, _"You wouldn't."_

James drew back slightly to look Ed in the eyes and smirked evilly. _"Oh, but I would."_

And Roy had no doubt that he was telling the truth.

"_So what do you say, huh? Play nice and answer my questions... and neither your brother nor your out-of-the-office lover will be harmed."_

Ed drew his lip back in an animalistic snarl, though he ground out the answer anyway. _"Because it was a change. I was a kid before, a weak little kid who couldn't do anything - but I knew I couldn't just be a weak little kid in the military, so I had to change. I thought part of that would be easier if I looked different. So I changed my clothes and my hair in an effort to be a new person."_

Roy didn't hear the man's reply; he was too busy replaying the shockingly emotive answer in his head. To be honest, he'd always wondered why someone who always claimed to not be the slightest bit effeminate would grow their hair long and wear it in a braid... though he'd never thought the answer would be quite as deep as _that_.

A strangled cry yanked Roy out of his reverie, and his eyes refocused on the scene in front of him - James was stroking Ed's cheek lovingly, a sympathetic look on his aged face. _"Don't worry, my pet - I'm here, now."_

"_Wish you fucking weren't."_

James's face contorted into a manic snarl as he picked up the grey steel knife again. He grabbed a rough hold of Edward's chin and breathed into his face. _"Arrogant brat. I don't know what that man sees in you."_ James chuckled and he smirked through narrowed eyes. _"Or maybe he doesn't see anything in you. Maybe you were just another one of his plays. A nice meal - satisfies his needs, and then he chucks away the leftovers. That's all you deserve to be, you ignorant piece of shit!"_ James yelled, before holding the knife up to Ed's cheek, digging it in and twisting hard, making Ed wince in something like pain. _"I'm gonna show everyone how you look on the inside, okay? You may be a pretty face on the outside, but I know your true colours, bitch. I'll make sure no one will ever want to sleep with you ever again."_ James pulled the knife out of Ed's cheek, before surveying his canvas. The slivers of dull brown outlining his disturbingly dilated pupils were glittering with anticipation, and a small, sweet smile spread his lips wide as the dagger was pushed into Ed's left eye socket.

Ed screamed in pain, perfectly in sync with Roy's coffee mug as it shattered on the floor.

James shrieked in joy, laughing crazily as he twisted the knife this way and that inside Ed's face. After a moment he yanked the dagger back out, only to slash it across Ed's mouth. _"Who'd want to kiss someone with lips like these?"_ he giggled as he dragged the tip of the steel from under Ed's nose to his chin.

"_Stop-"_ Ed began, but he was cut off by a mocking shriek of laughter.

"_You're asking me to show mercy? You don't deserve mercy! You're a self-obsessed, prideful, spoiled brat who only got into the army in the first place because he's a slut!"_

Ed winced in agony as the knife was drawn slowly and deeply along his right cheek. _"I didn't-"_

"_Liar!"_ The knife again was drawn across Ed's cheek, perpendicular to the first cut. Ed could feel the knife cutting his tongue on the other side of his cheek. _"There's no way a pretty little thing like you could become a State Alchemist by ability alone. I know what you did! I know-"_

Roy flinched as he slammed his laptop shut. He couldn't do this anymore. He abandoned his chair, the laptop and the broken coffee mug pieces strewn around the room. He fled his office, calling for Hawkeye to follow as he strode out of the outer office.

"What's wrong, sir? You're shaking."

Roy simply shook his head, too disturbed to even think about the DVD still playing on his laptop. "Get Hughes. Tell him it's about the DVD - I know where to find Fullmetal."


	21. Thanks

**A 'sequel' of sorts to 'Torture' :3**

**Prompt: Thanks  
Genre: Horror (again)  
Rating: T+ (It doesn't even exist but oh well xD)  
Warnings: MURDER and insanity... and an OOC Ed. And past RoyEd.**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**t . h . a . n . k . s**

"Hey, Mustang," Ed said with a certain mocking lilt to the man's name.

Roy forced himself to look at the blonde alchemist - something that he'd had trouble doing since their rather messy break-up the week before. "Yes, Fullmetal?" he asked as blankly as possible.

"D'you know where that crazy Kellar guy went?"

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

Ed scoffed. "Just tell me."

Roy exhaled under his breath. "He's being held at the Central County Prison just downtown."

"Are there lots of guards?"

Roy narrowed his eyes. These weren't ordinary, run-of-the-mill questions one asks about insane torturers. "A few."

Ed made a humming noise of something like agreement, before strolling towards the door and grabbing his coat. He turned just as he had the door open and smirked at his ex. "Thanks."

* * *

"Hey."

Corporal Whitefield looked down at the short man with a raised eyebrow. "Who are you?"

A flash of a silver pocketwatch had his back straight and his hand at his forehead. "I-I'm sorry, sir, I wasn't-"

"Nah, don't worry about it." Ed grinned. "I won't tell the higher-ups you were sleeping on duty if you let me in."

Whitefield's face lit up in both relief and alarm. "Let you in to-"

"The prison, yes. And don't tell anyone else, either."

Whitefield was stuck - either he let the boy in and risk punishment... Or not, and be guaranteed punishment. "Okay. Here's a pass."

Ed accepted it gratefully, before strolling through the now-open gates. With a wink as he passed, he said, "Thanks."

* * *

"Excuse me, but who are - oh, I'm so sorry, sir!"

_Man, this thing is useful_.

"Are you here to inspect the-"

Ed cut the muscular prison guard off. "Nah, I'm just here to see someone."

The man's eyes widened slightly. "Uh, who-"

"James Kellar."

There was a visible pause in motion as the prison guard reached for the keys to the cell, but he didn't question why on earth this short boy with an eye-patch wanted to see the insane torturer.

Ed gestured for the man to go first, and as he led Edward down the narrow corridor to James's cell, Ed could practically _feel_ the palpable tension radiating off him.

The cell was opened, and Ed was ushered inside. He heard the click of the door behind him, and a vengeful smirk spread across the youthful face, illuminating an eye hell-bent on revenge.

"Hello," Ed said to the man curled in the corner.

"Hello," James said back, though it seemed even in his mentally unstable state he could tell a kind voice from a cruel one, as he subconsciously drew further into the corner of the cell.

"I'm here to give you something," Edward proclaimed suddenly. "Equivalent Exchange and all that."

James nodded, not quite sure what to do.

Ed slowly knelt down next to the scruffy, unkempt man, and touched their noses. "I'm very grateful for what you did for me, you know," he whispered, his breath only faintly tickling the air around him. "You gave me scars that will never fade, you gave me a whole new type of fame, and... _You gave me Roy's hate._"

Ed quickly drew out a concealed dagger from a sheath on his thigh, making sure James could clearly see the serrated edge before he made it a new sheath - in James's stomach.

"You gave me so much, James. So I just wanted to say..."

James made a gurgling sound as he coughed blood onto Ed's face.

Ed's grin widened. "Thanks."


	22. Sibling

**What's with all these updates? Seriously? When I have so much other stuff to write ¬¬ (Haven't updated TATMWITC in like nearly three months TROLOLOLOL /shot)**

**Prompt: Sibling  
Genre: Romance/Angst/Fluff  
Rating: T  
Warnings: ELRICEST, because I know how much you all want to kill me. And language. :3**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**s . i . b . l . i . n . g**

It tasted of copper.

Al swallowed the drop of blood with a wince - he'd never liked the taste of blood... though he supposed it was better than not being able to taste anything at all.

"Al?" Ed asked softly from beside him on the uncomfortable train seat. "Are you okay? You bit your lip. It's bleeding."

Al automatically lifted a tentative hand to his mouth as he nodded. "I'm fine, nii-san. I've just been... thinking."

Ed cocked his head to the side. "About what?"

Al opened his mouth as if to reply, before shutting it again and shaking his head slowly. "It's nothing you need to worry about."

The shorter blonde scowled worriedly from Al's left. "That could mean anything with you. What's really the matter?"

Al inhaled deeply, before sighing in defeat. He let his gaze drift to the window as he tried to avoid eye contact. "It's just... these thoughts I've been having," he said slowly, his intonation odd, as if it was difficult to form the words. "At first they were just idle thoughts, you know - the kind you can just brush off and ignore. But then I started thinking about it more often, and now I can't stop thinking about it at all..." Al whispered in a rush.

Ed shifted closer, craning his neck to look his flustered brother in the eye. "What is it, Al? What have you been thinking about?" he breathed, quieting his voice to match the younger boy's.

Al turned his blonde head slightly to prevent Ed's neck from breaking, and the furrowed eyebrows, pursed lips and faint blush dusting his cheeks caused Ed to quirk an eyebrow.

"What's that look for?" Ed asked curiously.

Al made an uncomfortable sound, as if this was the last thing he wanted to talk about, and he broke eye contact again.

However, this time Ed wouldn't have any of it. He reached out and cupped the embarrassed boy's chin in a gloved hand, forcing his head around to look Ed in the eye. "Tell me what's wrong, Al," Ed pushed gently.

Al kept his mouth shut, his stubborn streak showing its colours as he glanced anxiously around the fast-moving train at his fellow passengers.

Ed scowled again, the corners of his mouth pulling down into a frown as he sighed in exasperation. "Come on, Al. I can't fix the problem unless you tell me what it is."

Al's expression quickly morphed into one of alarm, and he whispered harshly, "This isn't a problem you can just _fix_, nii-san! If I tell you what's going on, I doubt you'd even _want_ to fix it, even if you _could_, which you _can't_!"

Ed's eyes were wide and taken-aback; it was rare for Al to snap at him, and such an occurrence usually meant a serious problem. Why Al was refusing to tell him, Ed had no idea... but that last sentence was still rattling around in Ed's skull - what on _earth_ could Al be hiding that could make Ed not want to fix his problem? What could cause Ed to be such a selfish brother?

"Trust me, nii-san," Al breathed, softer and calmer this time, "you wouldn't want to know. Just don't ask, because I know you won't like it."

Ed raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Al, you know I'll always love you, no matter what you tell me. Even if you've secretly been keeping cats in the basement - which I know you have - and you've spent so much money feeding them that we're broke, even if you knocked Winry up, even if you're secretly a part of some big anti-military movement that likes to kidnap and torture civilians for fun - I'll always love you."

"Yes, but _not enough_!"

The heartfelt admission cracked on the last syllable, and Ed found himself shaking his head numbly, unable to understand. Was he a bad brother? Had he been neglecting to take proper care of his Al? Oh god, did Al feel like it was Dad all over again? Fuck, what if he-

Al seemed to catch onto Ed's train of thought, as his eyes immediately widened and a hand flew over his offending mouth. "Oh no, nii-san, I didn't mean it like that - I didn't, you're the best brother in the world and you're doing the best you can and - oh god, I'm totally screwing this up..."

The heart in Ed's chest beat faster, panic setting in as Al slumped over, burying his face in his palms with a torn sound somewhere between a groan and a sob.

"Al...?"

"I'm so sorry," Al breathed, the hushed sound barely audible over the friendly hum of the train and its passengers.

"What for?" Ed asked desperately. What the _hell_ had he done? It must've been something pretty damn awful for it to be beating Al up like this... Oh god-

"It's nothing _you_ did, nii-san... Don't blame yourself..." Al murmured quietly, driving Ed to distraction.

"How am I supposed to not blame myself if I don't know a single thing that's going on? Al, what the _fuck_ is happening?"

"_I'm falling in love with you_!"

Al's face was a bright red as he lifted it to make eye contact - Ed's eyes, painfully similar to Al's own, were wide and round with shock. "Do you understand now?" Al finished quietly. "I _love_ you, nii-san. A lot more than I should. Brotherly love will never be enough for me." Al's eyes began to overflow as his limit for agony was reached, the excess flowing down his milky-white cheeks as tears. "I didn't want to tell you, nii-san, because I knew how you'd react. It's disgusting, it's wrong, it's horrible and I wish I didn't have to feel this way," the teen whispered as he lifted a pale hand to shield his eyes from the scathing glare he was sure was being sent his way. He wasn't sure he could handle the hatred, the disappointment, the sheer _disgust_ of society blazing like flames in those burning eyes. Not his nii-san's. Not now.

So he flinched when he felt the cooling touch of gloved metal on his heated cheek - because why would Ed touch him if he was so sick?

"Shhh, Al. Don't cry."

Al opened his eyes at the comforting statement - there was no judgement, no hatred, not even an uncomfortable underlying tone that should have come from a confession like that. Through his shaking fingers he could see an unreadable face tilted slightly in something like friendliness, or acceptance, or sympathy. "Nii-san..."

Ed shook his head, and a small, melancholic smile turned the corners of his lips up. "Did you think I would hate you for that, Al?"

Al opened his mouth, though nothing like a reply came out.

The smile grew a fraction. "You know, for such a genius, you can't half be stupid sometimes."

Al's expression grew perplexed as his hand was lifted away from his face, though before he had time to form a very confused response, Ed's lips were crushed against his and all coherent thought flew out of the window.

By the time they parted, it felt like coherent thought was somewhere up in Drachma, yet somehow Al managed to form a single word that portrayed so much more. "Why...?"

Ed chuckled softly as he rested his face in Al's neck. "I love you too, Al. I always have. Always. I just never thought..." Ed sighed. "I shouldn't be doing this."

Al, understandably still in a reasonable state of shock - both from the confession and the kiss - was only able to nod in agreement.

"I don't want to get you into trouble for starting something. If you don't want to risk it, just say so."

Al smiled - it was one of those small, cute smiles that always made his brother's face light up. _And now I know why_. "We're adept at lying, nii-san, and we're already drowning in sin. What difference would this make?"

Al felt a small exhale of hot breath against his collarbone, and a shiver shot down his spine like electricity.

"I'm... I'm a terrible brother, aren't I?" Ed whispered.

Al smiled, burying his face in his brother's soft hair and inhaling. "Yes, nii-san. You're a terrible brother. But... you're the best lover in the world."


	23. Blood

**Random depressing thing. Too many conversations about the Butterfly Project...**

**Prompt: Blood  
Genre: Angst  
Rating: T or M (?)  
Warnings: SELF-HARM and waaay too much angst.**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**b . l . o . o . d**

I see it.

Nii-san doesn't know I see it, but I do. I can hear it too. The muffled sobs and stifled self-loathing whispers as the red drops tap the floor.

Nii-san thinks he's being strong by taking everything upon himself. He thinks 'forgetting' to tell me he's carrying the world on his scarred shoulders is the best way to go.

So every night, I stay awake far longer than I should, just to listen from the next room as Nii-san transmutes his automail into a very familiar blade and digs it into his own skin. Just to hear the dull thuds of his hands hitting the wooden floor in anger. Just to hear the weak splashes as the life seeps out of him into the floorboards. Just to hear him apologise to Mustang, to Dad, to Mum, to Granny, to Winry and to me, over and over again as he cries and cries, tears mixing with the deep red lifeblood and forming a drowning ocean around him.

Just to see him scrubbing mercilessly at the marks on the floor the next day.


	24. Solution

**My beta casually creeping at my shoulder.**

**(So totally not writing/uploading this at school or anything.)**

**Prompt: Solution  
Genre: Angst  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Alcoholism**

* * *

**s . o . l . u . t . i . o . n**

Sometimes it was all just too much.

But there was always a comfort; in with the booze, out with the guilt.

Until the next day.

.

.

.

_(Play mode: repeat.)_

* * *

_**(This is Pruey's beta note. I don't take responsibility for anything she says. Sue her, not me, please.)**_

**IRON MAN AND CAPTAIN AMERICA IS CANON. DEAL WITH IT.**


	25. Broken

**Hey y'all. Back with another angsty fic! :D *Is shot***

**Well, at least my author's block is clearing up. :3**

**(I wrote this one on a memo on my phone during school a few weeks ago... I kept forgetting to type it up. xD)**

**Prompt: Broken  
Genre: Angst, angst, ANGST  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Language, OOCness**

* * *

**b . r . o . k . e . n**

"See? Good as new."

"Just... Just like me?"

"Just like you."

* * *

"_Fuck_!"

The vase gave way to the shiny cream tiles below, the force of the impact strong enough to shatter it.

"Fuck!" Ed repeated. "Fuck, fuck, _fuck_!"

Ed had thought tackling the intimidating task of 'the big clean-up' would have been relatively easy in comparison to Ed's usual hobbies - namely fighting immortal super-humans to the death. Unfortunately for the decorative vase currently far from whole, that had been one assumption too far.

Ed was in a panic as he fumbled with shaking hands for the glittering pieces of glass scattered over the clean tile. It had been Mum's vase - one of the few items Winry had managed to salvage from their house before the brothers threw the fatal match. Ed, though he would never admit to it aloud, cherished the vase as a close memory of his mother and it was the only object he'd accepted from Winry.

So, as you can imagine, Ed was almost hysterical as he attempted to pick up the countless pieces of rose-tinted glass with hands shaking like an earthquake at nine-point-oh.

"Nii-san?"

The familiar voice did little to comfort the teen, and the arms gently closing around his petite figure were hardly even registered.

"Nii-san?" Al repeated. "Did you... Did the vase get knocked over?"

Ed could feel his rusty tear ducts quickly whirring back into unfamiliar motion, and he buried his face in his brother's shirt to hide the impending tears. He nodded slowly into the white material, sniffing quietly.

Ed could feel a light breath on his head as Al sighed softly. "There's no need to cry about it, Nii-san. It was just a vase. We can get a new one, okay?"

Ed found himself shaking his head so violently he became dizzy, and Al had to hold the blonde head between his palms to prevent Ed from throwing up.

"Okay, okay, Nii-san..." Al murmured gently as he stroked his brother's golden hair. "We'll fix it. Can you find all the pieces? We can mend it with alchemy."

Ed sniffed again, nodding. When he spoke, his voice was wispy and scratchy, and he could barely raise the volume above a shaky whisper. "The pieces... didn't go very far. They should all be around here somewhere."

Al nodded, despite the fact that Ed couldn't see. "If we can gather them all up into one place, I should be able to fix the vase."

Ed shifted out of his brother's grasp and proceeded to crawl across the kitchen tiles, gathering up every shard of glass until there was a pile about three inches high in the middle of the room.

He dropped back into a sitting position as he watched Al softly bring his smooth palms together and touch the coloured heap glistening in front of him. As he watched, Ed noticed absently how pretty the glass shards were, reflecting the daylight in a million directions all at once and creating countless miniscule rainbows that danced all over Ed's vision.

There was a flash of warm blue light, and by the time Ed's vision cleared, the vase was whole and complete again, every embossed flower perfectly aligned, just as it had been before.

"See? Good as new."

Ed wondered just how much better the world would be if everything could be fixed like that, and before he knew it, crystal tears were slipping down his cheeks. He silently whispered, as if to himself, "Just... Just like me?"

Al blinked in mild surprise at the unexpected statement, before the corners of his lips turned up in a small, sad smile. "Just like you."


	26. Silence

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated anything in forever, but I recently obtained a new netbook and it's really making me want to write. It's also curing my writer's block, so here you are, and it's the school holidays so expect a whole lot of updates soon!**

**And it isn't beta'd, ahaha.**

**Prompt: Silence  
Genre: Angst  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Language, possibly emotionally disturbing content, triggering**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

** S | I | L | E | N | C | E**

The scratch of well-used pen on paper accompanied by the occasional rustle of turned pages was surprisingly soothing. Comforted by the hushed sounds and the emptiness of the office bar just two men, the tense atmosphere between the two alchemists famed for their arguments had almost completely dissipated. Naturally, this paved way for idle chit-chat as Roy waited for his paperwork to be completed and Ed waited for something better to do than flick through textbooks and stare at Roy's fluid handwriting from across the room.

"Say, Fullmetal, I was just wondering..." Roy murmured absent-mindedly.

"Mm?"

"Where were you during that Drachman revolt a couple of months ago?"

Ed raised his head from the tortuously boring pages with an incredulous expression. "What? You still remember that?"

Roy shrugged, not once taking his eyes off the yellowed paper in front of him. "I just remember you not being there. We could've really used you there, y'know. An alchemist like you would've been really helpful. As it was, Central Command was almost taken over and we barely scraped through."

Ed sighed, returning his gaze to Advanced Biology. "Nowhere in particular."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "How gullible do you think I am, Fullmetal?"

Ed sniggered.

Roy sighed irritably at the countless identical documents under his breath and capped his pen, deciding that, as he'd been working non-stop for eight hours, a break was called for, before returning his attention to the blonde alchemist sprawled lazily on his leather sofa. "I'm serious, Fullmetal. You have me intrigued. Where, exactly, is 'nowhere in particular'?"

Ed's shoulders lifted and dropped a fraction in something that was probably supposed to be a weak shrug. "None of your business."

Roy narrowed his eyes at the subtle refusal to make eye contact. He'd been in the business of manipulation for over a decade, and his senses were honed to almost perfection. The slight dip of the young man's eyebrows, the almost imperceptible hunch of his shoulders and the fact that his pupils were not moving despite the fact that he was busy 'reading' all pointed to the flashing neon sign that read 'THERE'S SOMETHING I'M NOT TELLING YOU'.

The discussion quickly halted as Roy switched to a different tactic; Fullmetal wasn't exactly known for his patience, and Roy suspected that with a sufficient amount of patience of his own, Fullmetal might just blurt it out to him with minimal fishing and effort on Roy's part.

The subtle sounds of signing papers were no longer a lullaby to the tense men's ears. The pen scratched like white noise and Ed's rough breathing grated on the air like sandpaper.

It took only twenty-three minutes for Ed to give way to Roy's disguised pressure. He grunted and threw his head back onto the soft leather, relaxing as he let the lethargy take over. "I was in the hospital, you bastard."

The blue ink pooled on the page where Roy paused. He raised his head, jet eyebrows furrowed and onyx eyes concerned. "Why? If it was an injury during the revolt, you could have just told me. It's not like I would have laughed at you for being pathetic; I'm not _that_ mean."

A small, troubled noise rumbled in the teen's throat as his eyes dropped to the cerulean carpet. He was tearing his lip apart viciously between crooked teeth, and he seemed to be attempting to curl in on himself and vanish into the creases of the well-worn couch.

"You... You weren't in the hospital for an injury, were you."

Ed slowly shook his head, turned down at just the right angle to shield most of his facial features from Roy's cunning view.

"May I ask why?"

Ed sucked in air harshly, before apparently choking on something he'd breathed in. He coughed, a few quiet raspy sounds that he tried to conceal. Roy's slanted eyes narrowed further.

"I know it probably isn't my business, but you must understand that as your commanding officer I have a right to be concerned, Fullmetal."

"I know," Ed breathed, bringing a hand of flesh to rub wearily at his bloodshot eyes. "I know."

Roy capped his pen and set it down quietly.

"I..." Ed took a deep breath. "This is difficult." He forced the words out between the gaps in his gritted teeth. "Hell, it's stupid, and I probably shouldn't really be telling you anyway, and... Fuck, _fuck_, I'm just wasting your time." Ed stood up rather suddenly and took a shaking stride towards the mahogany door.

"Fullmetal," Roy spoke softly, and it was as if he had jumped on Ed's brake. He jerked to a stop, though showed no intention of returning to his seat.

Roy observed silently, his growing worry well-hidden behind a mask of professionalism.

Ed sighed and groaned, relaxing his hunched shoulders and facing Roy, making eye contact for the first time since their conversation had shifted topics.

Roy restrained himself from recoiling. Ed's raging amber eyes were a parches desert, and if he looked deep enough, Roy could see the plains cracking and crumbling in the searing heat.

"I _was_ in the hospital from an injury, Colonel. Just... not one inflicted by the revolt."

There was a short pause as Ed dredged up all the courage he'd ever saved for a rainy day.

"I... Here, look, see for yourself. Just... look." He rolled up the left sleeve of his blood-red jacket and tugged off his glove. As he laid it down on Roy's stained coffee table, Roy couldn't help the small intake of breath as he noticed a small mark on the wrist of the pearly white glove; it was the same colour as Ed's jacket.

Ed traipsed over to Roy's desk and offered him his forearm, his face cast in neutrality.

Roy, however, could barely force down the bile as he felt his subordinate's razor slice his mask to pieces. Though he really tried his best to comfort Ed, or berate him, or ask him why in _hell_ he would do that to himself, he could not find any words in his voicebox.

Roy's screams were not heard in the defeaning silence of Ed's tears.


	27. Figure

**I kind of want to apologise for writing this, and I would have written it for Winry if I could stand her character. I know it's OOC for Ed and quite a delicate subject... But if you know me, you know I adore writing "taboo" subjects, so here it is, without apology.**

**Prompt: Figure**

**Genre: Angst**

**Rating: T+**

**Warnings: Possibly distressing and/or triggering**

**Disclaimer~**

* * *

**F | I | G | U | R | E**

"Hey, try this; it's really good," Havoc mumbled through a mouthful of double cheeseburger, and though the words were only slightly garbled in all the processed fat in his mouth they made little sense to Ed. He downed a mouthful of the putrid stuff and almost fainted in delight.

He later decided it was prettier on Havoc's plate than in the toilet.

* * *

Ed reached for his coat. He had already donned a thick vest, long-sleeved top and light jacket but it felt as though the cold was seeping into his bones and freezing the marrow.

"Are you insane?" Breda joked. "Your _coat_? In _this_ weather? I know it's a little windy but it's still fifteen degrees out there, kid. It's May."

Ed shrugged.

* * *

Al shot Ed a surprised look. "You're adding the scores quicker than the darts players, Ed," he chuckled in mild amazement. "Looks like all that extra math you're studying is actually useful."

Ed smirked slightly,and was tempted to say something along the lines of '_I told you so_'... though he didn't trust himself to speak in case he told Al he was wrong instead; for the improvement in his mental arithmetic was not from studying.

* * *

Ed frowned at the familiar face. It frowned back at him, and Ed wondered if the boy was disappointed in him.

He dragged his attention away from the tired face down to his waist. Was it just him, or was that stomach slightly larger than it used to be?

He pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he pulled on his shirt and turned the mirror to face the wall.


End file.
